The second wave of Covid-19 has done things worse for India as around 3 lakh cases is been reported and over 3000+ deaths each day. Seasoned sports journalist Late Ruchir Mishra passed away in Nagpur in the wee hours of Tuesday after contracting COVID-19.
Players united for a good cause
Mishra, 42, was associated with The Times of India in Nagpur for over a decade. Mishra was one of the most authoritative voices on domestic cricket in the Central India region. The cricketing fraternity, including Test stars Murali Kartik, Umesh Yadav, Wasim Jaffer and Naman Ojha, condoled his death.
Wasim Jaffer and Umesh Yadav paid heartfelt condolences to his family after coming across the sad news. Cricketers took the initiative to help his family through the tough times and raised the funds in Ruchir’s schoolmates initiated a fundraiser. He is survived by his wife and two children, the loss of Ruchir’s would be priceless but money will definitely be helpful in their further journey.
As per the website, veteran fast bowler Umesh Yadav has donated one lakh INR, while his teammate Cheteshwar Pujara contributed INR 50,000. India women’s team coach Ramesh Powar also helped with INR 50,000. Star Ravichandran Ashwin also made his contribution, and he even urged his fans to help Late Ruchir’s family.
COVID-19 has affected many things in the country including IPL, which was a great source of entertainment during the lockdown. Indian Premier League 2021 getting postponed after several players and support staff tested positive for COVID-19 which resulted in the indefinite suspension of the IPL tournament.
Currently, BCCI is planning to finish the remaining part of the tournament in the UAE or the UK. India will be playing WTC Finals and 5 match Test series against England. The remaining players will be flying to Sri Lanka for a three-match ODI sequence adopted by 5 T20Is and former Indian stalwart Rahul Dravid could in all possibility become the coach of the team. IPL can be played post the series, which means IPL is likely to be back in September 2021.