The team, with Virat Kohli as the mascot, won the IPL after 17 years. That still doesn’t fully explain the frenzy and craziness that follows the RCB wherever they play in the country
If cricket is religion in India, then RCB naturally qualifies as a deity. There is no other explanation for the humongous crowds that gathered in Bengaluru on Wednesday (June 4), risking their lives, with at least 11 actually dying in a stampede, all to merely “see” the winning team from a distance.
The finals were already done and dusted in the politically-imbued Narendra Modi stadium in neutral Ahmedabad, unrelated to either of the finalists. It would be understandable if the stampede had occurred to witness the match itself, but to take all the trouble and go to the stadium just to see the IPL cup, Virat Kohli and the rest of the team in that order beats logic.
The team, with Kohli as the mascot, had won the IPL after 17 years. That still doesn’t fully explain the frenzy and craziness that follows the RCB wherever they play in the country, leave alone the immeasurable support in Bengaluru. It is akin to insects like moth that helplessly fly towards the light, with many dying in the process. Though theories exist, scientists are still trying to figure out the phenomenon.
Also read: Bengaluru stampede LIVE: A deadly cocktail of confusion, overcrowding, free passes
Why the rush?
As one reporter-witness from the spot put it, if the venue was jam packed with around 35,000 spectators, there was at least 10 times that number of people outside Karnataka’s Chinnaswamy stadium desperate to get in.
A post circulating in social media questioned the rationale behind the unbelievable support for RCB. It pointed out that Royal Challengers Bengaluru is a private team owned by a liquor manufacturer. Except for the incidental presence of less than a handful of players from Karnataka, the rest are from other parts of India and the world.
A commercial entity, the RCB is not accountable to the city of Bengaluru or Karnataka and there is no record of it having done anything socially or otherwise for the people there. Yet, the level of support is stunning. Top players like Kohli and the captain, Rajat Patidar, have repeatedly expressed complete disbelief at the following the team commands.
Also read: Bengaluru stampede and Kolkata derby clash: 2 similar tragedies 45 years apart
Why the adulation?
Karnataka has a long history of sending top cricket players in all formats of the game, but that cannot be the complete explanation, as many other states too have done the same.
On the eve of the finals, a state BJP legislator, CT Ravi, wondered why there was so much of adulation and backing for a team that hardly represents Kannadigas or even the local ethos.
Ravi was quoted by The Hindu as saying that the players are openly selected in an auction. “The players will go to whoever pays them more. How can you have either nationalistic or regional feelings?” he said.
Also read: Maha Kumbh: Sudden 'push-and-shove' among devotees led to stampede, says witness
Religion and stampedes
But then, these are rational and logical arguments. Undoubtedly these observations are entirely valid. If such rationality was at work, leave aside the Bengaluru stampede, there would be no similar stampedes anywhere else. Cricket being a religion, it attracts crowds willing to risk their lives presumably for an ethereal experience – something that cannot be explained through logic.
Stampedes are not uncommon in India, mostly at events linked to religious activity. There have been stampedes in places like the Tirumala temple in Tirupati where six died in January this year, in Hathras during a satsang when 124 people died in 2024, or more recently at the Kumbh Mela where several pilgrims died, with one report placing the dead at 10.
In the past, stampedes have been recorded in Mecca as well which routinely witnesses the largest gathering anywhere in the world during the Hajj pilgrimage. In 2015, around 1,500 died in a stampede there.
Also read: Days after Tirupati temple stampede, fire tragedy averted at laddu counter
The religion of cricket
Prima facie, it could be considered incongruous to compare religion with sports. But cricket in India belongs to a hallowed category with a devout following that can more than match any religious entity.
In general, going to places where thousands, if not lakhs, assemble is fraught with risks. But many are prepared to take the chance and go anyway. In Bengaluru, RCB fans who left their homes to be at the Chinnaswamy or the Vidhana Soudha, probably didn’t even think they were undertaking a hazardous journey. Sadly, close to a dozen have paid for their decision with their lives.
When thousands gather, like in Bengaluru on Wednesday, it is beyond the administrative capability of the police force to control them. And, governments too are not particularly efficient in handling challenging situations.
Also read: Tirupati stampede: How ‘greed’ and bad management led to tragedy
An inefficient administration
The RCB stampede resembles what happened in 1994, of all places, at the Vidhana Soudha during a legislature party meeting of the Janata Dal party that had won Assembly elections that year. The police were unable to stop a mob, which broke through the barriers around the state’s most prominent signature legislative building, barged into its precincts and attempted to hijack the legislative party proceedings. Fortunately, none was killed in the incident.
It would be too much to expect the police alone to exhibit top efficiency when the rest of the administration has shown itself to be incapable of managing the city during a crisis. The routine flooding during rains, the pothole-riddled roads and the difficulties in obtaining basic service like public transport are indications of an inefficient administration. These, unfortunately, are systemic issues beyond the capabilities of any political party.
Where nepotism, corruption and favouritism play a key role in all things government everywhere, including the police force, one can only expect half-baked measures like what was witnessed on Wednesday. The police had an entire day to plan security and ensure some degree of orderliness. But they were washed away, along with the cursory barricades, by the ocean of cricket fans who flooded Bengaluru’s iconic central business district. The result was anarchy outside the stadium, leading to tragic consequences.
