Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 28: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Saturday honoured the fans who lost their lives in the 2025 stampede by reserving 11 seats at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru ahead of their first Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Notably, these seats are set to remain permanently unoccupied during all IPL and international matches.
Ahead of the IPL 2026 opener, players from both RCB and SRH also observed a one-minute silence to pay tribute to the fans who lost their lives in 2025.
For the unversed, 11 fans died, and several were injured in the stampede caused outside the stadium during the victory celebrations following RCB’s first IPL title win. Cricket at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium had been suspended since June 2025.
During the tournament opener against the Hyderabad-based franchise, the defending champions RCB, are also wearing black armbands.
A statement from RCB said, “Royal Challengers Bengaluru will pay tribute to the eleven members of the RCB family who tragically lost their lives in the unfortunate incident on June 4.”
“As a mark of respect, players will wear practice jerseys bearing the number 11 during the warm-up, followed by black armbands during the match.”
“In a lasting gesture of remembrance, eleven seats at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will remain unoccupied, serving as a permanent tribute to the fans whose unwavering support will always be a part of the RCB family,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru won the toss and decided to field against the SRH in the tournament opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
At 27 years and 253 days, Ishan Kishan, who is the stand-in captain of the Sunrisers, became franchises’ second-youngest skipper, behind Kane Williamson (27y, 244d) in 2018.
Playing XI of both teams:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.Royal Challengers Bengaluru
(Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma. (ANI)
