Patidar dedicates IPL trophy to stampede victims
Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar shelved his stoic side for a few moments and dedicated his team’s second IPL trophy to the fans who died in the stampede last year.
The hurriedly organised victory celebrations of RCB after they won their maiden IPL title in June last year led to a stampede, causing the death of 11 fans outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“Obviously, you feel bad. You lost your fans after winning the game. Not just the fans, they are the family members,” Patidar said in the post-match press conference after RCB beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets to bag their second IPL title in a row here on Sunday night.
“I always want to dedicate this trophy to them. That’s it. I don’t have words to express that feeling,” he added.
The whole train of incidents after the tragic turn of events resulted in the Chinnaswamy Stadium getting deprived of top-flight cricket for nearly eight months.
After several rounds of discussions, inspections and renovation works, the Karnataka Government and the BCCI green-lighted the return of cricket to the fabled venue. It allowed the local association, the Karnataka State Cricket Association in this case, and RCB to stage five matches at the Chinnaswamy.
As a mark of respect for the departed souls, the Royal Challengers players wore jersey No.11 during match days and the franchise in association with the KSCA, also marked 11 permanent seats in honour of the stampede victims.
