India vs SL 2nd Test: Bengaluru allows 100 percent crowd for Virat Kohli’s ‘homecoming’ Pink Ball Test

Team India's Hanuma Vihari bats in the nets in Bengaluru ahead of 2nd Test against Sri Lanka. (Source: Twitter)

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) on Thursday (March 10) allowed 100 percent crowd attendance for the second India-Sri Lanka Test, which will be a pink ball game and scheduled to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, starting in Bengaluru on Saturday. The Chinnaswamy stadium is in fact former India captain Virat Kohli’s home ground in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he has been part of Royal Challengers Bangalore since its inception.

This latest development comes as a change from the earlier approved 50 percent capacity and the decision was taken by KSCA following the approval from the state government. It has been learnt that increased demand for tickets led to the association seeking the government’s approval. Nearly 10,000 tickets thrown open to the general public have been sold out for the first two days, according to KSCA treasurer Vinay Mrithyunjaya, an ESPNcricinfo website report said.

Getting Pink Ball Ready #TeamIndia | #INDvSL | @Paytm pic.twitter.com/94O8DDzs9x — BCCI (@BCCI) March 9, 2022

The KSCA has also opened additional tickets from Friday to cope with the surge in demand, following their decision to throw open the entire stadium to spectators. “Considering the high volume of response and since there are no further restrictions for spectators, KSCA will be opening up the sale of tickets for the full capacity of the stadium,” the state association said in a statement.

Notably, Bengaluru is hosting a Test for the first time since Afghanistan played their inaugural game in the city in June 2018. It last hosted an international match in January 2020, when Australia toured for a short ODI series.

Overall, this is India’s third day-night pink-ball Test at home, following matches in Kolkata against Bangladesh (November 2019) and Ahmedabad against England (February 2021). India won both those Tests inside three days.

Bengaluru was initially slated to host the first Test which was also Virat Kohli’s 100th match in the longest format. But, it was later slotted in to host the tour ending the second match as it would help facilitate a direct flight back home to Colombo for the visiting Sri Lankans.

(with IANS inputs)