The craze surrounding RCB’s maiden IPL title win turned deadly.
The unfortunate incident took place when passionate fans were attending the celebration event for the RCB team lifting the IPL 2025 trophy.
Speaking to news agency PTI, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia expressed his deep sadness, saying that organisers should have planned it better.
"It is very unfortunate. This is a negative side of popularity. People are crazy for their cricketers. The organisers should have planned it better. My deepest condolences to the family of the deceased. I wish early recovery of the injured," Saikia said.
"When one organises a victory celebration of this magnitude, proper precautions, safety and security measures need to be taken. There have been some lapses somewhere.
"After such a glorious ending to the IPL, this has been an anti climax. There have been IPL celebrations in the past as well, like in Kolkata last year when KKR won but nothing happened there."
Saikia also cited the examples of celebrations in Mumbai following India's T20 World Cup triumph last year.
"Same was the case when we won the T20 World Cup. There was a sea of humanity in Mumbai but nothing happened. Police and local authorities worked in tandem to ensure smooth conduct. I hope nothing more untoward happens.
"Even yesterday in Ahmedabad, during the IPL final, there were 120,000 people at the stadium but BCCI has a dedicated team which has done elaborate planning in coordination with local district administration and law enforcing authorities to ensure that safety and security of the spectators," Saikia added.
BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla also reacted to the incident, stating that the government had already cancelled the roadshow to avoid any crowd-related incidents, but the stampede near the stadium was not expected.
“Govt did stop the roadshow in order to avoid stampede or any such situation. But, it was not anticipated that a stampede would happen outside the stadium. Everybody should work together on the damage control,” Shukla said in a statement to ANI.
The victorious RCB contingent arrived at the HAL Airport on Wednesday afternoon and headed to the Vidhana Soudha in their team bus to meet Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. The Rajat Patidar-led side was received by state's Deputy Chief Minister at the airport.
Fans lined up the streets and thronged the Chinnaswamy Stadium to catch a glimpse of the stars, including the legendary Virat Kohli.
However, it turned deadly with stampede-like situation claiming multiple lives. Visuals online showed police shifting injured and unconscious people to a nearby hospital.
In the IPL 2025 Final, RCB defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium to end their 18-year long wait for the elusive title win.
Asked to bat first, RCB posted 190/9 on the board. While Virat Kohli was the top scorer with 35-ball 43, the likes of Rajat Patidar (26 off 16), Liam Livingstone (25 off 15) and Jitesh Sharma (24 off 10) made valuable contributions with the bat.
Defending the total, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-38 in 4 overs) and Krunal Pandya (2-17 in 4 overs) bowled magical spells to stop PBKS at 184/7 in 20 overs.
(With PTI/ANI Inputs)