Legendary Indian cricketers, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev have pledged their support to Indian Cricketers Association’s (ICA) initiative to financially help around 30 needy cricketers amid the nationwide lockdown, said its president Ashok Malhotra. The ICA has so far raised ₹39 lakh to help former cricketers who are in dire need of funds.
As per the quotes in PTI, Malhotra said, “Big names like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Gautam Gambhir, and Gundappa Viswanath have joined us and that is a major boost to our initiative. A corporate from Gujarat has also offered its support.”
The reports also suggest that players like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, and Gautam Gambhir have also made financial contributions to the cause. Mohammad Azharuddin had pledged his financial support earlier this week. The ICA will continue to accept donations till May 15, following which it will shortlist 5-6 cricketers from each zone (north, east, west, south, and central).
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Malhotra explained, “Cricketers who don’t have jobs, who don’t get a pension from the BCCI or their respective state associations will be offered help.”
The ICA has contributed ₹10 lakh to the initiative. As many as 1750 former cricketers are registered with the ICA, India’s first-ever players’ association which was put into effect last year. The ICA had received an initial grant of ₹2 crores from the BCCI in February to kick-start its operations.
Currently, India is going through a nationwide lockdown. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus positive patients in India went past 37300 with almost 1230 people losing their lives on Saturday, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
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Almost the entire is in a lockdown due to the scare of the ever-escalating situation concerning the World Health Organisation-recognized pandemic that is the Coronavirus. Everything- schools, colleges, airports, railway stations, gyms, sporting events, movies, offices- have been put under lockdown as the world continues to self-isolate in order to control the pandemic.
