Recently, the ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar provided a help of Rs 4.5 lakh to the wheelchair cricket team of India, which successfully completed its first international tour of Bangladesh.
It was their dream to wear the national jersey. They needed Rs 6.5 lakh so that they could travel to Bangladesh for a bilateral series. But despite the secretary of the Wheelchair Cricket India (WCI) Pradeep Raj’s efforts, they could only get one sponsor who partially funded their expenses, giving them Rs 2 lakh.
It was Pradeep’s idea to approach Sachin Tendulkar for help to realise the dream of wheelchair cricket team.
“Despite my best efforts, I could only get only one sponsor, who gave Rs 2 lakh. I had knocked many doors for our wheelchair team but to no avail. I had Sachin sir’s email address as during my days as a para-athlete (he was a cricketer and then a para TT player), I had e-mailed him. This time also I mailed Sachin sir asking for help,” Raj told PTI during an interaction.
“To my pleasant surprise, his office got in touch with me within three days and in next few days, he donated the outstanding Rs 4.5 lakh. Without his help, the Indian Wheelchair cricket team would have had to cancel their trip to Bangladesh. The financial help provided by him went a long way in booking air tickets for the 19-member team,” Raj added.
