A black day in the history of cricket

The 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL’s) final match took place in Ahmedabad on June 3 between the Punjab Kings team led by Shreyas Iyer and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) led by Rajat Patidar. RCB won the match by six runs, and lifted the trophy. With this, their 18 years wait for the coveted trophy has come to an end. Fans and cricket followers have been celebrating the grand victory not just on social media platforms but also in public places.
An event to celebrate the victory was held in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Public had gathered in a large number in Chinnaswamy Stadium and also at Metro stations. As a result, metro train service was temporarily stopped. Also, what’s more bothersome is that about 11 people died and more than 30 injured in the stampede at the stadium. The incident has just shaken the country.
Political parties and outfits have been expressing their dissatisfaction over the poor crowd management done both by the state government and the RCB team management. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced financial assistance worth Rs 10 lakh each to the families of the deceased. He along with deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, expressed his condolences to the family members of the deceased, and offered solace to the injured.
Despite the victory and celebration, the day was filled with sorrow. It is the fault of no one but the management and police personnel. Considering how much importance people give for cricket, they should have anticipated the crowd, and carried out crowd management protocol properly. People love cricket more than anything in their lives.
It is only during the Maha Kumbh Mela, the country had witnessed a severe stampede. Despite the repeated incidents, Intelligence Bureau and other concerned officials refuse to learn from their mistakes. If only proper arrangements were made to manage the crowd, the incident could have been averted.
Since the event was organized at the last minute, chances are high that the event organizers did not expect such a huge crowd to turn up at the stadium. The event could have even been arranged a day or two later. The event was arranged without giving police the sufficient time to make proper security arrangements. Ideally, the state government and police shouldn’t have given permission to organize such a huge event in such a short span of time.
Let’s sincerely hope that administrators learn from their mistakes, and take all necessary steps to prevent such incidents in future. Deepest condolences to the deceased.