Table of Contents

On June 4 last year, what should have been the greatest day in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's history became one of the most tragic.

The city had poured onto the streets to celebrate the franchise's maiden IPL title, and in the chaos that followed eleven fans lost their lives in a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The celebrations that Royal Challengers Bengaluru's had organised drew lakhs of people without the requisite security clearances in place, and the franchise faced massive criticism for how the evening was handled.

The stadium itself was stripped of its hosting rights for the ICC Women's ODI World Cup 2025 and the Men's T20 World Cup 2026, labelled fundamentally unsafe by the Justice John Michael D'Cunha Commission.

Now, with IPL 2026 opening at Chinnaswamy on March 28 against SunRisers Hyderabad, RCB and the Karnataka State Cricket Association have announced how they intend to honour the eleven people who never made it home.

IPL 2026: What the tribute by RCB involves

The memorial has been put together jointly by RCB and the KSCA and covers several gestures across match day and beyond.

Eleven seats inside the stadium will be permanently reserved in honour of the victims, not just for IPL matches but for all future international fixtures at the venue as well. The seats are expected to be located together in a premier stand, with the area cordoned off as a permanent mark of respect.

A memorial plaque will be unveiled near the inner entrance of the stadium, closer to the existing mural, providing a dedicated space for reflection. On match day itself RCB will lead tributes before the start of play, the names of the eleven victims will be displayed inside the stadium and a minute's silence will be observed, with SunRisers Hyderabad also expected to join the homage.

Players will wear jersey number eleven during practice sessions on game days, and black armbands will also be worn. "All the players will have jersey No.11 on their back, not for the game, but for the practice," RCB CEO Rajesh Menon said. "We are also looking at having 11 permanent seats in Chinnaswamy Stadium forever. This is for the 11 fans who will be with us forever."

Also READ: RCB vs SRH match tickets go live today; IPL 2026 tickets booking details inside

What the KSCA president Venkatesh Prasad said

KSCA president and former India bowler Venkatesh Prasad spoke about the decision with visible emotion. "It is painful to even think about the tragic incident. But we have been discussing the memorial for a while with the managing committee and other major stakeholders, and collectively felt it was important to honour the memory of the 11 people. We don't want to rekindle any pain, instead, remember them. That's why we decided to place an epitaph of the cricket fans whose lives were cut short tragically," he said.

On the reserved seats specifically, Prasad added, "It's a joint decision between the KSCA and the franchise since they are an integral part of the Chinnaswamy Stadium."

How the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru got back to this point

The return of cricket to Chinnaswamy has not been straightforward. Following the commission's findings the state government denied the mandatory police clearances required by the ICC, citing inadequate entry and exit points and a lack of emergency planning.

To regain its hosting status the stadium underwent a rigorous rehabilitation process mandated by the Karnataka High Court, including a new Standard Operating Procedure developed alongside the Karnataka State Police and the installation of an AI-led CCTV system covering over 300 cameras capable of providing real-time alerts on crowd density and queue build-up.

All stadium access points were reconfigured. Only after these structural and digital safety audits were completed did the state allow the venue to resume hosting duties. "I would like to thank the Karnataka state government, the CM, DCM, HM, Commissioner, and Joint Commissioner. We have an SOP from the Karnataka High Court which we have to follow with KSCA, RCB, and DNA under the guidance of the Karnataka state police," Menon said.

The stadium will host five of Bengaluru's seven home matches this season, with the remaining two taking place at Raipur's Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium.