BENGALURU: In these torrid times when the second wave of Covid-19 is creating havoc, Indian basketball players, including men's team captain Vishesh Bhriguvanshi and women players Shireen Limaye and Raspreet Sidhu have decided to join the fight, asking people to make donations. In return, some of the generous donors will be given personalised prizes by the trio.
But how does this initiative work? After making a particular donation to any organisation of their choice for Covid-19, the donors have to send a screenshot of their contribution to any of the three players. Some of the top donors will be getting some personalised prizes.
Vishesh is set to provide five signed basketballs while Raspreet has decided to give three signed game-worn Indian jerseys from top international competitions. Shireen will be handing out several of her signed India jerseys, including the ones she wore at the Asian Games 2018, Asia Cup 2019 and t-shirts among others.
“Right now, if you look at the situation in the country due to Covid-19, it is undergoing a tough time. People are in need of help and support. There are a lot of people in the country, who can donate. Even if you donate a small amount, it is going to help someone or the other to save their lives. People can donate to those organisations, which is doing right things in these tough times for the people,” Arjuna Award recipient Vishesh told this daily.
It is important to note that the initiative is the brainchild of several Indian basketball content creators, who are targeting to get some more top players onboard.
"The idea here is to just do our bit. It is such a testing time now and we are really together in this. It is also about how much can we come out as a nation to support each other. When we feel so helpless and if we can help someone in need, it makes you feel better,” said Raspreet.