KOLKATA: The BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya today urged the high-profile Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament to provide a platform to serve humanity by taking up social welfare programmes.
The lucrative BCCI tournament was in the eye of storm after the 2013 spot fixing scandal but the newly-elected Board president said the IPL involving high-profile international cricketers can make a difference with significant contribution to the society.
"IPL is one of the most sought-after sporting tournaments in the country and it is felt that there cannot be a better platform than it to serve humanity by taking up social welfare programmes," Dalmiya said in a statement.
"Considering the popularity of the IPL and the fact that it involves the top players of world cricket, it is expected that by undertaking social welfare programmes, it would have high impact. I am hopeful that it would be able to make a meaningful and significant contribution to society."
The septuagenarian administrator, who was the president of the Asian Cricket Council and Afro-Asian Cricket Co-operation, also recalled eradication of blindness programme and said IPL could do something similar.
"It could be in the lines of similar programmes which were initiated by the Asian Cricket Foundation and Afro-Asian Cricket Co-operation more than a decade back."
The programmes were about 'Eradication of Blindness' and it included restoration of eye-sight through cornea grafting and transplantations.
The themes were widely known as 'Cricket for Life beyond Death' and 'Chance of a Second Innings'."