Royal Challengers Bengaluru celebrated their first IPL win after 18 years. However, a stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium during the celebrations resulted in injuries and fatalities, overshadowing the victory.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have carried on their IPL 2025 victory celebration at their home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, despite a stampede-like situation outside the stadium on Wednesday, June 4.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally put an end to their 18-year title drought by clinching their maiden IPL triumph by defeating Punjab Kings in a thrilling final in front of a packed crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3. RCB registered a narrow 6-run win over PBKS to lift their maiden IPL trophy, which had eluded them for the last 18 years.
RCB reached the final thrice in 2009, 2011, and 2016, but fell agonizingly short of winning the title. In their fourth IPL final appearance, Royal Challengers Bengaluru overcame past heartbreaks to secure their maiden IPL triumph.
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A stampede outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium
Ahead of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL title victory celebration at their iconic stadium, a stampede-like situation took place outside the stadium before the team arrived at the venue. Several fans were fatally injured due to a sudden stampede triggered by overcrowding and a lack of management, as a large number of fans thronged outside the stadium to catch a glimpse of the champions.
According to reports, 11 people were feared dead and several others were injured in the unfortunate stampede outside the iconic stadium, casting a dark shadow over what was meant to be a day of celebration for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and their fans following their maiden IPL title win in 18 years.
The fans gathered outside the stadium, way before the RCB players arrived in Bengaluru, in hopes of securing a good spot to witness their heroes up close, but the overwhelming turnout quickly turned uncontrollable, leading to tragic consequences.
The chaotic and stampede-like situation prompted emergency services to rush to the scenes, with police being deployed to manage the injured and take them to the hospital. Several of the injured were admitted to Bourwing Hospital and Vaidehi Hospital in the city.
The show goes on despite tragedy
Despite a stampede outside the stadium, Royal Challengers Bengaluru continued with their celebrations at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. They were first felicitated by Karnataka Chief Minister M Siddaramiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar at the Vidhana Soudha. The champions were honoured with Mysuru Peta and Puspha Maala, honouring them in traditional style for bringing home the IPL trophy and making the state proud with their historic maiden title win.
However, the felicitation ceremony was cut short due to rain, and players were escorted to the bus and headed straight to the stadium. Despite the tragic incident outside Chinnaswamy, there was no official statement by RCB on whether the victory celebration would be called off or not. However, the event went on as the players arrived at the venue, where thousands of fans were already present at the stadium despite torrential rain in Bengaluru.
In a video posted by ANI, Royal Challengers Bengaluru players were seen celebrating with the trophy, while Virat Kohli made a victory speech in front of the crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Karnataka Deputy CM was also present at the venue to celebrate the team’s victory.
It was reported that neither the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) nor the IPL committee was informed about the Royal Challengers Bengaluru management’s organizing a victory parade in Bengaluru.
Ahead of the victory celebration, the Bengaluru Traffic Police issued an advisory, where they stated that there would be no open-bus victory parade from Vidhana Soudha to M Chinnaswamy and urged the people to use metro or public transport due to limited parking space in the stadium.
