IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals contribute ₹7.5 crores towards Covid-19 relief in India
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) became the first IPL franchise to contribute towards Covid-19 relief in India. On Thursday, the team announced a contribution of ₹7.5 crores (over $1 million) to help the country battle the deadly virus.
Team owners, players, and the support staff have all come together to help raise these funds towards a noble cause.
In an official statement, the Royals revealed that the relief measures will be implemented through the franchise's philanthropic arm - the Rajasthan Royals Foundation (RRF) in partnership with the British Asian Trust (BAT).
Funds raised by the franchise will be utilized as relief measures all across the country. But the initial focus will be on the state of Rajasthan, where the RRF has already been involved in various initiatives.
"Having the team owners and its players come together has enabled this initiative to reach the scale it has, providing aid to tackle the current crisis and help people get the single most pressing necessity at this time - Oxygen," the official statement of the Rajasthan Royals read.
Pat Cummins and Brett Lee also contributed before the Rajasthan Royals
Australian cricketers Pat Cummins and Brett Lee donated $50,000 and 1 bitcoin respectively to help India procure oxygen for those in need.
“It has been quite overwhelming (the response on social media). Just trying to help a little bit. The response by cricketers and people outside the cricket community has been huge."
"As much as the money, hopefully, the awareness, helping people to stay home and keep up the morale in tough times make a bit of difference,” Cummins said in an interview recently after a great response everyone for his initiative.
Indian cricketer Shreevats Goswami, who is a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad, also got involved in the relief work and donated ₹90,000 to help arrange oxygen supplies in hospitals.
India has been hit quite hard by the second wave of the Coronavirus, with the country reporting more than 3 lakh cases per day for more than a week now.