Sunil Gavaskar shares emotional insights on the tragic stampede during RCB’s historic IPL win celebrations. Learn why the 18-year wait made fans’ joy overwhelming, and why safety must be the priority going forward.
A Celebration Turned Deadly
The elated mood outside M. Chinnaswamy stadium within an eyeblink turned catastrophic as around 300 fans fell in a massive stampede during the IPL winning celebration of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Happy Times for thousands of fans turned into the saddest moment when ironically 11 got killed and around 50+ people injured in a disaster. After this, cricket great Sunil Gavaskar also weighed in and said the incident was “heartbreaking,” providing even more context for what has now become an unfortunate event.
The Weight of an 18-Year Wait
Gavaskar feels that tragedy was born out of the then sky-high emotions after nearly two decades of hope and hype. “If RCB would have won the IPL earlier in their journey, this storm of emotion would not have unfolded so violently,” an RCB analyst said. RCB legendary batsman talked about how wins are usually celebrated by other IPL teams without such hiccups and maybe their fans never had a known waiting period.
No One to Blame: Understanding the Crowd’s Emotion
In his column for Mid Day, Gavaskar said there is no point in blaming anyone for this disaster. Fans were just riding the crest of a moment of fandom and joy-at times wanting to reach out even and just be able to stare at their favorite players who have brought joy into their lives for so long now. Many of these players mean years of service and dreams and this win hits the feels.
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A Heartbreaking Price for a Glimpse of Glory
The pain of the loss in the outside world from Chinnaswamy Stadium as Sunil Gavaskar said. Dreams of 18 long years come to an end in a celebration sadly cut short by the loss of life. It was an emotional rollercoaster and, sadly- an uncontainable chaos.
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Moving Forward with Lessons Learned
That IPL win, though a historic feat for RCB as a team & its followers be the incident is asking for more crowd management and safety protocols during such fests. Gavaskar gives us an insight into how deeply the fans of sports, their dedication, and passion go — and first and foremost, they must be safe.
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