WION Exclusive: Will do more, says cricketer Pat Cummins after Covid donation to India wins hearts

With the COVID-19 pandemic raging in India, there have been many debates surrounding the biggest T20 cricket tournament in the world – the Indian Premier League – being held at a time when the country is recording more than 300,000 cases. While many have called for the suspension of the lucrative T20 tournament, being held behind closed doors, others have said that it brings respite to the cricket-mad country for three-four hours a day.

Australian cricketer Pat Cummins, who is in participating in IPL 2021 with Kolkata Knight Riders, took a step forward and donated $50,000 to help India fight the dreaded virus. The move was lauded by all, and the cricketerurged other IPL players to help the cause. Cummins was followed by former Australia speedster Brett Lee and KKR batsman Sheldon Jackson.

The donation by Cummins and Lee have been backed by IPL as the cash-rich tournament has started to use its platform to raise awareness surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic while urging citizens of India to follow all the coronavirus-related precautions and get vaccinated when they are eligible to do so.

In an exclusive interview with WION’s Executive Editor Palki Sharma Upadhyay, Australia and Kolkata Knight Riders cricketer PatCummins talked about donating $50,000 to PM Cares Fund, IPL amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.

The situation in India isn’t great so anything we can do to help: Cummins

When asked what prompted him to donate the generous sum to PM Cares Fund, Cummins said: “First of all, we are in the middle of IPL which is happening in India. The situation outside isn’t great. India has been so good to me over the years, the people are so kind here. I felt like doing my little bit. The situation isn’t great so anything we can do to help.”

Cummins took to social media platforms to announce his donation to help India get immediate oxygen supplies for those struggling with the virus. The Aussie became the top trending topic on social media platforms as everyone lauded him for helping India in these testing times.

“It has been quite overwhelming (the response on social media). Just trying to help a little bit. The response by cricketers and people outside the cricket community has been huge. As much as the money, hopefully, the awareness, helping people to stay home and keep up the morale in tough times make a bit of difference,” Cummins said.

“A couple of guys in Kolkata Knight Riders have been really generous with their donations to the PM Cares Fund over the last year or so. There are a few people back home in Australia who are keen to help India so we might set up something in the next few days to direct a few more resources to charity here,” the ace Aussie pacer added.

Three Australian cricketers – Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson – flew back to their homeland citing COVID-19 related concerns. Even star Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has pulled out of IPL 2021.

The question remains, should IPL 2021 continue at a time when the country’s medical infrastructure is overloaded?

Hope to bring respite to people for three-four hours a day: Cummins

“I don’t think so. We are doing everything we don’t take any resources from the frontline. There is an aspect that us playing for three or four hours hopefully contributes to making people stay at home,” Cummins said.

“It has certainly been a big topic of conversation as to how we can help. Kolkata Knight Riders have been leading that on what we can do, we can talk about vaccinations, be widely available to the public in the next couple of weeks. So we can hopefully encourage people to do as much to minimise this initial wave and future waves as well,” he added.