Bengaluru, March 24 Royal Challengers Bengaluru players will train wearing jersey No. 11 on match days during the upcoming IPL, and the franchise also plans to mark 11 permanent seats in honor of the fans who died in a tragic stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here last year.
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 faced massive criticism for its handling of the celebrations, which drew lakhs of people to the streets without adequate security clearances.
"The players will be wearing jersey No. 11 for practice on game day – the time before the match," RCB CEO Rajesh Menon told reporters here on Tuesday.
"All the players will have jersey No. 11 on their backs; not for the game, but for the practice.
"In addition, they will also be wearing black sunglasses on that day. We are also considering having 11 permanent seats at Chinnaswamy Stadium forever. This is for the 11 fans who will always be with us," he added.
The defending champions will be playing their season opener here on March 28 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in what will be the first of their five home matches at this venue.
RCB are set to play their remaining two home matches at Raipur's Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium during this IPL.