Winning hearts on the pitch with their performances for Mumbai Indians is not the only forte of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya. The duo seem equally adept at winning heart off the pitch too if their endevours on Wednesday is to go by.
The pair, along with several Mumbai Indians team-mates, were on hand to cheer on the two finalists of the Reliance Foundation’s Education and Sports for All (ESA) cricket final at the Wankhede stadium.
Fresh from their heroics in their win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, the Mumbai Indians players were back in the familiar surroundings of the Wankhede stadium as the 16-team box cricket tournament for underprivileged children came to a close with the finals.
The star cricketers played their part in the noble cause with Rohit, Hardik, Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga all taking turns to bat and bowl for both the finalists during the match.
Malinga was quite clearly enjoying himself.
Even head coach Mahela Jayawardene joined in on the action as he wore the umpire’s hat for the summit clash.
Mumbai Indians has been supporting education for under privileged children through the Education for Education For All (EFA) initiative since 2010. This year EFA has evolved to Education and Sports for All (ESA), under the umbrella of Reliance Foundation, combining its focus areas of education and sports for development.
The ESA initiative seeks to provide holistic development through focus on education and sports and to enhance the quality of the sporting ecosystem by providing facilities, training, infrastructure, and equipment across multiple sporting properties through the year. Cumulatively, the programme has reached out to over 13 million children.