What was supposed to be a happy celebration for RCB fans turned into a tragedy in Bengaluru. Many fans came to celebrate their team's first IPL title win in 18 years.
But a stampede broke out outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, leaving several families shattered. At least 11 lives were lost and close to 50 others were injured in the horrifying incident.
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India head coach Gautam Gambhir shared his thoughts and reacted to the tragedy during a press conference ahead of India's departure for the England Test tour. Let’s look at what the Indian head coach had to say.
Why is Gautam Gambhir against IPL victory parades?
Gambhir didn’t hold back in expressing his disapproval of open-road victory parades. He said he has never been in favour of such events, even when he was an active cricketer.
"We should never have road shows. Lives of people are very important. It can happen behind closed doors. Even when I was playing - 2007 - I was never in favour of those," said Gambhir.
Gambhir called for a serious rethink on how teams celebrate with fans and urged organisers to plan more cautiously in the future.
"I can't say if the fanbase has increased. All I will say is we need to be responsible citizens - every life matters, and if we were not ready to hold a road show, we shouldn't have done that," said Gambhir.
For Gambhir, public safety should always be the top priority, no matter how emotional or exciting the occasion may be. No celebration is worth losing lives.
"I know fans get excited but nothing compared to what happened yesterday. You cannot, at any point of time, lose 11 people - I think we can be more responsible," he added.