Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) mentor and batting coach Dinesh Karthik opened up on his and the team's first reaction after they got to know about the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy stadium. Earlier this year, the Bengaluru-based franchise had finally ended their 18-year wait to win the IPL title. They had defeated the Punjab Kings in the final on June 3 in Ahmedabad and as they wanted to celebrate the triumph with their fans, the franchise decided to organize a victory parade and felicitation ceremony a day later in Bengaluru.
However, things turned grim for RCB fans on the day of the event as its complete mismanagement led to a stampede outside the famous stadium. It also ended up taking the lives of 11 people and left over 50 injured, leaving a big stain on RCB's title celebrations.
Now, Karthik has revealed how him and the rest of the team reacted whrn they learned about the tragic incident. He remarked that they didn't know how to react to it at first. Karthik added that the tragedy is "one of the saddest things that he has seen'.
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“We were in Bangalore. You have got to understand that we were told to go to an event and when we got there we were sent back. I don’t even understand what had happened. It was beyond us,” Karthik told India Today.
“We are just sportsmen who are playing this sport. When something like this happens, you just don’t know how to react,” he said. “My first instinct when I was told that people are losing lives… Could it change? I really wish it could,” he added.
“The aftertaste that it left sent us players into radio silence. You know, RCB is such a well-supported franchise. It completely finished whatever our celebrations could have been. It is one of the saddest things that I have seen. I cannot even start to empathise what those parents and families must have gone through. I just hope that in some way we can repay them," he further added.
RCB provided financial aid to families of the victims
Following the incident, the Bengaluru-based franchise announced a compensation of INR 25 lakh each to the families of the people who lose their lives due to the stampede. They also launched an initiative named 'RCB Cares' in order to provide aid to all those who were left injured because of the incident.