“There’s been absolute radio silence from us players” - Former RCB star breaks silence on Bengaluru stampede during IPL 2025 celebrations

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) mentor and batting coach Dinesh Karthik has broken his silence on the stampede that occurred during the franchise’s IPL 2025 title celebrations. RCB had clinched the championship on June 3, defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs.

The next day, June 4, the RCB squad returned to Bengaluru for the celebrations. During the event, a stampede near the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium tragically left 11 people dead and 71 injured, according to The Hindu.

On Monday, September 8, speaking at the India Today South Conclave, Karthik reflected on the unfortunate incident, stating:

“Even now, speaking about it, when you showed me the pictures, I almost wanted to say it's great to see, but you know, let's move on, because the aftertaste that it left… there's been absolute radio silence from us players. And as you would know, RCB is such a well-supported franchise, and it completely finished whatever our celebrations could have been."

"So it is arguably one of the saddest things that I have been, I feel even wrong to say I have been part of, because I cannot even empathize with what those parents and the families must go through. But all I can say is, you know, I just hope that in some way we can repay them in whatever way possible. It's very hard to digest and accept, honestly, to have known that you were there and thereabouts, and things like this happen," he added.

Karthik continued:

“We were in Bangalore, and you got to understand that we were told to go to an event. We went, and then when we got news, we were sent back. I don't think we even understood what had happened. It was beyond us. You got to understand we are just sportsmen. We are playing a sport, and something like this happens, you just don't know how to react. And that was my first instinct, like, you know, people losing lives. Could it change? I really wish it could, because it completely changed the mood,” he added.

The title was RCB’s first in IPL history, with Rajat Patidar winning it in his debut season as captain.

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“One of those big moments in my life” - Dinesh Karthik on RCB winning the IPL 2025

In the same conversation, reflecting on winning the IPL 2025 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Dinesh Karthik described it as one of the biggest moments of his life. The 40-year-old shared:

“This is probably again one of those big moments in my life because I played for RCB for so long but we never ended up crossing the line. But being RCB's mentor, able to do this with a bunch of boys, the journey was great and obviously this result is one of the best moments in my life. But you almost realize when you get to a moment like this, the winning is absolutely brilliant and it lives with you for 2 minutes and then you almost get past it.”

“You're like, ‘Okay, what's next?’ But when I look back, that whole process of me saying thank you to playing, you know, getting a call saying, ‘Would you be interested in becoming RCB's mentor, taking up the job?’ That auction and the way we planned, that is what keeps coming to me so much more,” he added.

During his IPL career, Karthik featured in 60 games for the Royal Challengers, accumulating 937 runs at an average of 24.66 and a strike rate of 162.96, including three fifties.