Mumbai, June 5 (IANS) India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday flayed Royal Challengers Bengaluru for organising an event celebrating their triumph in the Indian Premier League (IPL) without adequate preparations, leading to a stampede near the Chinnaswamy Stadium in which 11 people died and many were injured.

Gambhir said he was nobody to say who is responsible for the tragedy but added that people should behave in a more responsible manner when it is a matter of people’s lives.

“I am no one to hold anyone responsible. The important thing is, I never believed in road shows. Winning and celebrations are important, but what is more important is someone’s life. If we are not prepared to handle that kind of crowd, then we might as well not have these road shows. We are responsible citizens of this country, and we need to show that in all of our actions,” said Gambhir in the pre-departure press conference for the Indian team ahead of the five-match Test tour of England in Mumbai on Thursday.

Gambhir said he has always been against organizing roadshows soon after winning titles. He was part of the Indian teams that had celebrated victories with open-top bus rides after the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup. Gambhir had earlier led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles and was also part of the team as a mentor when they bagged their third title in IPL 2024.

I was never a believer that we needed to have road shows. Never. I had the same statement to make when I was playing in 2007. That we should not have road shows. I think that people are far more important.

“In the future, I think we can be a little bit aware that not only do we not need to have road shows, but we can probably celebrate in a closed room or something like a stadium.

Gambhir expressed his condolences to all those who lost their loved ones in the horrific stampede.

“It is very tragic what happened yesterday, and my heart goes out to the families of the people who lost their loved ones. And I hope in the future, nothing like this can happen again. I think we all are responsible. We are all responsible citizens. And we should take the responsibility,” said Gambhir.

“We need to be responsible in every aspect of whether it’s being a franchise or anything. And if they were not ready to hold a roadshow, they should not have done it. It is as simple as it is. I know fans do get excited. Everyone gets excited. The fan base gets excited. But nothing compared to what has happened,” said the former India player.

–IANS

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