Rahul Dravid, the head coach and former batsman for India, discussed the stampede that occurred on June 4 during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL 2025 title celebration near the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

When RCB defeated Punjab Kings by six runs in the summit match in Ahmedabad on June 3, their 18-year journey to win the IPL trophy came to an end.  

The franchise planned a victory parade in Bengaluru to commemorate this milestone with the supporters, but the happy event took a turn for the worse when a stampede broke out, killing eleven people.

Originally from Bengaluru, Dravid offered his sympathies for the sad event. The former India coach acknowledged that witnessing such a catastrophe in Bengaluru was devastating.

"Very disappointing. It's very sad. Bengaluru is a sports-passionate city. I come from here. People over here love all sports, not just cricket. They follow all the sports and also all the sporting teams, be it a football team or a kabaddi team. It's really heartbreaking that such an unfortunate incident happened. Our thoughts go out to everyone for unfortunately lost their lives and those who were injured. Such a tragedy shouldn't have happened," Dravid told NDTV in an exclusive chat.

Rahul Dravid is currently the head coach of the Rajasthan Royals franchise. However, Dravid avoided playing the "political blame game" and declined to place the blame for the disaster on the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), the franchise, or the state government.  

An FIR has been filed against the IPL franchise, and several RCB and an event management firm personnel have also been arrested in connection with the case's investigation.