'A deadly welcome to IPL champions': Former World Cup winner slams RCB management

An ambulance arrives at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as fans gather to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru cricketers, winners of the Indian Premier League, in Bengaluru, India, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

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Former Indian cricket legend Syed Kirmani expressed concern over the tragic death of 11 Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fans during victory celebrations at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The incident occurred when local authorities failed to manage the massive turnout during celebrations organized by RCB management and Karnataka government to honor the newly crowned IPL champions.Kirmani, who was part of India's 1983 World Cup winning team, offered his condolences to the bereaved families while reflecting on the changing nature of fan culture."My condolences to bereaved families. This was a deadly welcome to IPL champions. In our times, there was no such media hype and there was no TV and there was no such thing which could lead to such things," Kirmani told India Today.The former wicketkeeper, who played 88 Tests for India, suggested that the celebration could have been better planned with proper arrangements."On that count I suppose if RCB waited for 17 (18) years to become champions and organizers whosoever it may be could have waited for a while for things to settle down and then organize a show to felicitate these great heroes of RCB."Kirmani questioned whether similar fan enthusiasm would be shown for Karnataka's potential Ranji Trophy victory, highlighting the evolution of cricket fandom."The fans of our times were not as crazy as fans of today and especially in the IPL, the crazy fans are unimaginable particularly as you could see lakhs and lakhs were around just to get a glimpse of these great heroes."The stampede resulted from an unexpectedly large crowd gathering to celebrate RCB's championship victory, leading to the unfortunate loss of lives at the stadium.

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