'Very Disappointing': Ex-India Coach Rahul Dravid Breaks Silence on Bengaluru Stampede After RCB's IPL Win

Bengaluru Stampede: It was a season of India Premier League to remember for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they ended their title drought by clinching IPL 2025 with a six-run win over Punjab Kings. But followed was horrific. A felicitation ceremony was organised for the fans at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium and there was chaos. There was a stampede as fans turned up in huge numbers. The security could not handle the crowd and the mess happened. Days after that incident, ex-India coach Rahul Dravid broke silence on the issue and gave his two cents on it. 

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Calling the episode ‘very sad’, Dravid said it is unfortunate that lives were lost. He also claimed that Bengaluru is a city that loves it's sport and hence it is heartbreaking that a stampede happened. For the unversed, Dravid was also part of the RCB franchise. 

‘Very disappointing’

"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." Dravid told NDTV in an exclusive chat. 

“Such a tragedy shouldn't have happened,” he added. 

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In the wake of the stampede, there are reports doing the rounds that the Chinnaswamy may not be RCB's home venue in the future. The latest as per a report in The Times of India, the Karnataka State Cricket Association president said that there was no relation between the stampede and the BCCI's decision to shift the venue.