Days after 11 people died and 56 were injured in a stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)’s IPL 2025 victory celebrations in Bengaluru, legendary cricketer Rahul Dravid on Tuesday expressed deep anguish over the incident.
He called the incident “unfortunate” and “sad”.
“Yeah, very disappointing. Obviously, very sad. Thoughts go out to people,” Dravid, a former India coach and captain, told NDTV.
The stampede occurred on June 4 when nearly 2.5 lakh fans gathered in and around the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to catch a glimpse of their favourite cricket stars.
He also said the incident was particularly painful given the city’s deep sporting culture.
“This is a really sports passionate city. I come from here. People love their sport, not only cricket. People love sport in the city and they’ve really followed all the sporting teams here, whether it’s been our football team or it’s been our kabaddi team.”
“And of course, the RCB is a really very well-followed team. So really sad, very unfortunate what happened. And our thoughts go out to everyone who unfortunately was injured and some of them who lost their lives,” he added.
Rahul Dravid is currently associated with IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals as a coach.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Karnataka State Cricket Association’s (KSCA) secretary A Shankar and treasurer ES Jairam resigned from their respective position, taking “moral responsibility” for the incident.
Karnataka HC denies interim relief to RCB official
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday denied interim relief to Nikhil Sosale, marketing head of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), in the June 4 stadium stampede.
Sosale was arrested on June 6 by the Central Crime Branch at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, when he was about to leave for Dubai.
The court also reserved its order on his petition till June 11. In his petition, Sosale questioned the legality of his June 6 early morning arrest.
He alleged that the police action was influenced by political directives.
The single-judge bench of Justice SR Krishna Kumar heard arguments from both Sosale’s counsel and the state before deciding to pronounce the interim order tomorrow.
