I was never a believer in road shows: Gautam Gambhir

Indian men's cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir said road shows were unnecessary to celebrate sporting triumphs. Gambhir's reaction comes after the stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru during RCB's IPL-winning celebrations that led to the death of 11 fans.

"I was never a believer that we need to have road shows. I had the same statement even after winning (the T20 World Cup) in 2007 that we should not have road shows," Gambhir told mediapersons during a press conference ahead of the England tour.

"I think lives of people are far more important and I will continue to say that. In future we can be little bit aware of not keeping these kind of road shows. We can probably have it in a closed-door or something like in a stadium," said Gambhir.

He attended two felicitation functions with Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in 2012 and 2014. Gambhir was also part of the IPL-winning celebrations in Kolkata and India's 2007 T20 World Cup win.

"It is very tragic what happened yesterday and my heart goes out to the families and people who lost their loved ones. I hope in the future nothing like this happens because I think we all are responsible citizens.

"I can't say whether the fan base has increased or all that kind of stuff. All I can say is that we need to be responsible. We need to be responsible in every aspect of whether being a franchise or everything (else) because every life matters," Gambhir said.

He also criticised the local organisers' preparedness to host the celebrations. "If you were not ready to hold a road show, you shouldn't have done that. (It is) as simple as it can get.

"I know fans do get excited. Everyone gets excited. The fan base gets excited. But nothing compared to what has happened recently. You cannot at any point in time lose 11 people," he said.