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NEW DELHI: Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins has donated $50,000 to India for India’s fight against COVID-19 and urged his fellow players who are featuring in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 to extend their help.
Cummins took to social media to announce a generous $50,000 donation to the “PM Cares Fund” to supply oxygen to hospitals overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing a touching message for the nation in the process.
“There has been quite a bit of discussion over here as to whether it is appropriate for the IPL to continue while COVID-19 infection rates remain high,” Cummins wrote.
— Pat Cummins (@patcummins30) April 26, 2021
“As players, we are privileged to have a platform that allows us to reach millions of people that we can use for good. With that in mind, I have made a contribution to the ‘PM Cares Fund,’ specifically to purchase oxygen supplies for India’s hospitals,” he added.
Cummins is part of a diminishing pool of Australian cricketers at the IPL. His compatriots Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Rajasthan Royals’ Andrew Tye have all pulled out over the past two days.
On Sunday night, R Ashwin, a Delhi Capitals’ player in the IPL, also pulled out at the end of his team’s match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad saying that he wanted to be with his family as they fought the pandemic.
India is currently battling a vicious wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and has steadily been clocking over 300,000 new cases a day over the last week – the most by any nation since the pandemic broke out last year.
The country’s healthcare system is struggling to cope, and appeals for beds, drugs, vaccines, and oxygen have dominated Indian social media spaces since the start of April.
