In the first match of IPL 2026, played between hosts Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 28, 11 empty seats were spotted.
The empty seats raised eyebrows, as tickets for RCB’s home matches are usually hard to come by, making empty seats highly unusual. For the uninitiated, these empty seats symbolize the death of 11 people in last year’s stampede during RCB’s victory parade outside the stadium.
Former Indian cricketer and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) president Venkatesh Prasad on March 25 said the state board would keep 11 seats vacant for all IPL and international matches as a mark of respect.
Prasad added that a special prayer was held to honor the RCB fans who lost their lives in the stampede.
“A special prayer was held at KSCA to honor the lives we lost and to assure their families that we care about them. We will keep 11 seats vacant and will not sell them, whether for IPL or international matches,” Prasad told ANI.
RCB also posted a video on X before the start of the match mentioning the same. They also informed that all the players will be playing with the number 11 on their backs in the match against SRH and will also wear a black armband, as a mark of respect to the 11 fans who lost their lives in the unfortunate incident last year. The video was captioned as: “In memory of our 11 dear fans. Etched in Chinnaswamy, forever a part of our RCB family.”
Karnataka Home Minister J. Parameshwara KSCA has erected a memorial to commemorate the 11 people who died.
“We had an incident in which 11 young men died at this very place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Karnataka government, the cricket federation and the RCB were criticized and condemned at that time. Later, the government constituted a committee headed by Justice John Michael D’Cunha, which submitted a report with serious recommendations,” he said.
Read also: RCB wears black armbands versus SRH in memory of lives lost during last year’s stampede at M Chinnaswamy
The Karnataka government, on March 16, granted clearance to KSCA to host IPL 2026 matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium after completing the required safety upgrades.
The state Interior Minister said that all necessary checks have been carried out to ensure the safety of fans during home matches. “The government allowed the March 28 match to take place after the KSCA implemented all necessary corrections. A committee comprising officials from the police, Bengaluru Metropolitan Authority and other departments expressed satisfaction with the measures implemented,” Parameshwara said, as quoted by PTI.
Speaking to reporters, he added that the police, KSCA and RCB have made all necessary preparations for the opening match of the Indian Premier League at the stadium. He added: “Clear instructions were also issued to ensure that such incidents would not be repeated, and all concerned parties agreed to abide by them.”
