“Very disappointing” - Rahul Dravid opens up on tragic loss of lives during stampede at RCB IPL title celebrations

Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid has opened up on the stampede during the RCB IPL 2025 title celebrations, which took the lives of 11 people and left 50 injured at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday, June 4.

Dravid, who comes from Bengaluru, shared his disappointment at the loss of lives during the joyous occasion for the city. Notably, RCB ended their title drought after defeating Punjab Kings by six runs in the grand finale at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3.

"Yeah, very disappointing. Obviously, very sad. Thoughts go out to people," Dravid told NDTV.

"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 our kabaddi team,” he added.

"And of course, the RCB is a very well-followed team. So really sad, very unfortunate what happened. And our thoughts go out to everyone who was injured, and especially to those who lost their lives,” he shared.

Interestingly, around two lakh people gathered to celebrate RCB’s title victory. Initially, the Bengaluru Traffic Police denied permission for a bus parade from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

However, before heading to the venue, RCB players were felicitated by the state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Vidhana Soudha. Later, the team moved to the stadium, where the tragedy took place. Later, RCB was forced to shorten their programme at the venue.

Notably, RCB announced an ex gratia payment of 10 lakh to the families of each victim. A few days later on June 6, Nikhil Sosale, the franchise’s marketing head, was arrested in connection with the incident.

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