Richa Ghosh, 16-Year-Old India Woman Cricketer, Contributes 1 Lakh For Fighting COVID-19

Sixteen-year-old all-rounder Richa Ghosh, who represented India in the Women's T20 World Cup earlier this month, has donated Rs 1 lakh to the Bengal Chief Minister's relief fund for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Richa's father Manabendra Ghosh went to the Siliguri district magistrate Sumanta Sahay's residence to hand over the cheque on Saturday, Cricket Association of Bengal said. "When everybody is fighting COVID-19 and the chief minister has appealed for a united battle against it, I thought of contributing a bit as a responsible citizen of the country," Richa, who played two matches in the T20 World Cup including the final, said.

Having made her debut in the tri-series in Australia before the T20 World Cup, Richa and Shafali Verma were the two 16-year-olds who played the final which India lost to Australia by 85 runs on March 8. CAB affiliated units and officials too came forward and announced their contributions through the state body. "66 CAB match observers have pooled in Rs 1.5 lakh, while 82 scorers contributed their day's pay aggregating to an amount of Rs 77,420," CAB stated.

Representative of Mohammedan Sporting Club at the CAB, Dipak Singh donated Rs 2 lakh to the Relief Fund. Former Women's Test Player Mithu Mukherjee has expressed her desire to contribute Rs 25,000. Coach of Bengal Women's U23 team Jayanta Ghosh Dastidar would contribute Rs 10,000. Among the affiliated units of CAB, White Border Club and Vijay Sports Club announced a donation of Rs 50,000 each. Uttar Pally Milan Sangha, Suburban Club and Rangers Club would make contributions of Rs 25,000 each.

Among the District Sports Associations (DSA), Coochbehar DSA agreed to donate Rs. 10,000 to the State Relief Fund, the statement added.

Ajinkya Rahane Contributes

India's Test team vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has donated Rs 10 lakh to the Maharastra Chief Minister's Relief Fund for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. This was confirmed to PTI on Sunday by a source close to Rahane, who joins the list of sportspersons who have contributed towards the fight against the pandemic. Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has donated Rs 50 lakh, while former India player Suresh Raina has chipped in with Rs 52 lakh. Maharashtra is one of the worst-affected states battling the novel coronavirus.

Ajinkya Rahane has donated Rs 10 lakh to the Maharastra Chief Minister's Relief Fund. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday donated his one month salary over and above Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directive to all BJP MPs to contribute Rs one crore from MPLAD funds in the country's fight against COVID-19 pandemic. "PM Narendra Modi ji announced #PMCares Fund to strengthen disaster management capacities and to encourage research on protecting citizens. It accepts micro-donations too. Let us contribute to make India healthier and more prosperous for our future generations. I've donated my one month salary," Rijiju wrote on his Facebook page. "Also keeping in touch with District Administration and authorized my nodal DC to use my MPLAD funds to purchase emergency medical kits to fight #COVID-19."

Also Read | From World T20 Hero To Real-Life Hero: Joginder Sharma Is Making A Big Difference In Fight Against Coronavirus

The country is under a 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of the deadly virus that has claimed nearly 25,000 lives globally. In India 19 people have lost their lives while more than 900 have been infected.

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