India lives for cricket. It’s really as simple as that. The game which the British brought to Indian Shores continues to captivate and enthrall audiences across the breadth of this great nation day after day. For years, Test and One-Day Internationals (ODI)was the staple of the cricket loving audience; then came along T20. With T20 cricket, there’s the added element of entertainment. And in the Indian Premier League, the combination of the exciting cricket, entertainment and the atmosphere in the stadium all contributes in making it a big hit.
The Mumbai Indians are one of the many IPL teams and enjoy huge support among the locals in Mumbai. The team was originally bought by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman, Mukesh Ambani, but now has new owners in Ambani’s wife Nita and son Akash. The reigning champions are more popular than ever in India’s Financial Capital and tickets to this year’s IPL have been selling like hot cakes. In the middle of a full-blown IPL season, it was heartening to see Nita Ambani book the Wankhede Stadium in its entirety for underprivileged children.
It was a sea of blue at the Wankhede as 19,000 children wearing specially created shirts attended the IPL match between the Mumbai Indians and King’s XI Punjab. This was done as part of the ‘Education for All’ initiative that has been able to meaningfully impact over 50,000 underprivileged children from various NGOs engaged in supporting and imparting life skills to their respective wards.
Led by Nita Ambani, a passionate advocate for the cause of education, the Education for All initiative partners with various city based NGOs engaged and has been able to reach out to over 50,000 underprivileged children over the last five years.
“Education has been very close to my heart and I strongly believe that our real victory is when every child in India gets equal and meaningful education. Today is a special day for all of us at Mumbai Indians as we are playing in support of not just these 19000 underprivileged children present here at the stadium, but millions across the country,” said Nita Ambani.
“We are thankful to our global fans, it’s in their strength and support we recognized the Mumbai Indians potential of enhancing awareness about this compelling social issue. Every Mumbai Indians player and support staff is a passionate believer in this initiative and committed to spread the message of ‘Education for All’,” Nita Ambani said.