Mumbai: India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir on Thursday questioned the necessity of holding road shows to celebrate sporting triumphs after a stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory celebrations led to the death of 11 fans near the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Gambhir, who has been part of two IPL title-winning celebrations in Kolkata and India’s 2007 T20 World Cup-winning campaign, urged everyone to be “responsible citizens” and not conduct functions when people are not ready for it.
When asked about the Bengaluru tragedy on Wednesday, the former BJP MP gave a sharp reply.
“That is a very important question, and I need to answer that. I was never a believer that we need to have road shows. I had the same statement to make even after winning (the T20 World Cup) in 2007 that we should not have road shows,” Gambhir told mediapersons during a pre-departure press conference for the England tour.
Gambhir as a captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, had attended two felicitation functions organised by the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government at the Eden Gardens in 2012 and 2014, but there were no road shows.
For Gambhir, lives are paramount, and he urged everyone to be careful shortly.
“I think the lives of people are far more important, and I will continue to say that. In the future, we can be a little bit aware of not holding this kind of road show. We can probably have it in a closed door or something like in a stadium.
“It is very tragic what happened yesterday, and my heart goes out to the families and people who lost their loved ones. I hope in the future nothing like this happens because I think we all are responsible citizens,” the former India opener said.
Asked if the nature of fandom had changed over the years, Gambhir spoke about being responsible in every aspect of life.
“I can’t say whether the fan base has increased or all that kind of stuff. All I can say is that we need to be responsible. We need to be responsible in every aspect of whether being a franchise or everything else, because every life matters.”
Gambhir also questioned the need to hold a road show when they were simply not prepared.
“If you were not ready to hold a road show, you shouldn’t have done that. (It is) as simple as it can get,” he couldn’t be more blunt.
He said he understands the excitement of fans, but what happened in Bengaluru was beyond tragic.
“I know fans do get excited. Everyone gets excited. The fan base gets excited. But nothing compared to what has happened recently. You cannot at any point of time lose 11 people,” the head coach said.
