"Could this not have been done 4 days later?" - Aakash Chopra on the stampede in Bengaluru during RCB's IPL 2025 win celebrations

Former India player Aakash Chopra has expressed anguish over the stampede deaths during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL 2025 victory celebrations. He questioned why the event could not have been held a few days later with better planning.

RCB beat the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs in the IPL 2025 final in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, June 3. However, their post-win celebrations at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru a day later turned tragic as 11 fans lost their lives in a stampede outside the stadium.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener questioned the authorities' preparations to handle such a massive crowd and wondered if RCB's maiden IPL triumph could have been celebrated a few days later.

"The stampede happened when people were trying to enter the ground because the capacity is 30 thousand and three lakh people came. That is correct, but who said or thought that three lakh people won't come? RCB is such a huge franchise, they get so much love, and something happened after so many years," Chopra said (2:55).

"When everyone knew, how did you not know? How will everyone enter? There was no ticketing. It is a disaster waiting to happen. Where is the accountability? It was a tragedy, a mishap, a disaster. Could this not have been done four days later? Could this not have been done on Sunday?" he added.

Aakash Chopra wondered whether the authorities could have made some preliminary arrangements, considering RCB had booked their berth in the final five days ago. While acknowledging that he doesn't have the right answer, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that there needs to be some accountability.

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"He was quite categorical" - Aakash Chopra on Gautam Gambhir's comments on the stampede during RCB's IPL 2025 win celebrations

The RCB fans had gathered anticipating a victory parade. [P/C: Geyty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra praised Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir for questioning such celebrations in the pre-departure press conference ahead of the England Test tour.

"Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir were there for the press conference. Good on Gambhir for giving a straightforward answer when he was asked about what had happened. You cannot hide in a hole. You have to talk about it. So he was quite categorical," he said.

While highlighting the importance of human lives, the analyst added that such incidents should never happen again.

"He gave his opinion that this is not okay, and it is not okay. Human lives are not that cheap. We need to address it, understand it, acknowledge it, and put an end to this. That's all I have to say," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra noted that Shubman Gill, the Indian captain, and Gautam Gambhir expectedly didn't disclose much about the likely playing combination for the first Test against England. He pointed out that they mentioned that Gill's batting position and which Tests Jasprit Bumrah would play haven't been decided yet.