Sipu Jha
NEW DELHI: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Tuesday announced that all the players of the franchise will wear the jersey number 11 in the pre-match training on all the match days in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). The decision was taken in “memory of the 11 fans” who died in the stampede during the franchise’s celebration of the maiden title win on June 4 last year at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“In memory of the 11 fans who we lost on June 4th. The players will be wearing jersey number 11 for the practice on the game day, on the practice time before the match,” RCB CEO Rajesh Menon said.“All the players will have jersey No.11 on their back; not for the game, but for the practice.”The franchise also plans to mark 11 permanent seats in honour of the fans who died in the stampede.“Apart from that, they (players) will also be wearing black armbands on that day. 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,” he added.RCB will play their first match of the season on March 28 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in what will be the first of their five home matches.RCB are set to play their remaining two home matches at Raipur’s Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium this IPL. The fans had lost their lives here on June 4 in a stampede that was triggered by chaos during RCB’s celebratory events after the team’s maiden IPL trophy win. The franchise had copped massive criticism for its handling of the celebrations which drew lakhs to the streets without requisite security clearances.
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