Cricket Australia Donates USD 50,000 To India For COVID-19 Relief, Partners With UNICEF Australia To Raise More Funds

Cricket Australia (CA) has donated USD 50,000 to India for Covid-19 relief. The Australian cricket board was inspired by donations given by Pat Cummins and Brett Lee to India earlier. Cricket Australia has donated the money (approximately Rs. 37 lakh) towards the Covid-19 crisis appeal set up by the United Nations International Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) for India.

Earlier, Australian cricketer Pat Cummins had donated USD 50,000 to PM Cares Fund to help India fight the surging Covid-19 crisis. Later, Brett Lee also donated 1 Bitcoin (Approximately 40 lakh) to Crypto Relief Fund. Sachin Tendulkar has also donated Rs. 1 crore to a fundraising campaign.

Shikhar Dhawan has pledged to donate Rs. 20 lakh towards Mission Oxygen. He has also said that he will donate any cash reward which he gets in upcoming matches of IPL 2021. All 8 IPL franchises have also made donations for the cause.

Cricket Australia To Raise More Funds

Cricket Australia’s interim chief executive Nick Hockley said that Australia and India share a special bond and they were inspired by their cricketers to donate for the Covid-19 cause.

“Australians and Indians share a special bond and, for many, our mutual love of cricket is central to that friendship. We were all deeply moved by the sentiments expressed and donations given by Pat Cummins and Brett Lee over the past week,” he said.

He also said that Cricket Australia is partnering with UNICEF Australia to raise more funds.

“In that same spirit, we are proud to partner with UNICEF Australia to raise funds that will help the people of India by providing the health system with much-needed oxygen, testing equipment and vaccines,” Hockley further said.

Talking about the Covid-19 crisis in India, the situation in the country has worsened after the second wave of coronavirus. About 3-4 lakh fresh cases are arriving on a daily basis. In the past 24 hours, more than 3.92 lakh cases of Covid-19 have arrived in the country and 3,689 people lost their lives.

The active cases in the country have crossed 33 lakh at present. This has also resulted in a health crisis in the country with hospitals facing a shortage of beds and oxygen supply for patients.