One Mumbai Indians home match at the Wankhede Stadium is earmarked for the underprivileged school children under the Reliance Foundation’s Education For All (EFA) initiative spearheaded by Nita Ambani. About 18,000 children are ferried from all parts of Mumbai for the match, which is a 4pm starter. That ‘EFA’ match at the Wankhede was scheduled for 4 pm on Sunday, when Mumbai Indians take on Sunrisers Hyderabad.
However, with the IPL matches post May 1 shifted out of Maharashtra, the same ‘EFA’ match will be held at Visakhapatnam’s Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, but on a smaller scale with 3,000 to 3,500 ‘special invitees’ in attendance. “All these years, Wankhede has been testimony to witness a sea of blue with 18,000 children coming over to watch a match ‘Live’ and get aspired to see their favourite cricketers in action. This year too, Mumbai Indians were looking forward to hosting yet another 18,000 children for the EFA match on 8th May 2016,” said Ambani in a release on Saturday.
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“Even though a change in venue from Wankhede to ACA-VDCA stadium, we felt that the cause of supporting education for children should not suffer, and hence – even less a number – we are happy to spread the joy among these 3,000 underprivileged children here at Visakhapatnam,” she added. For the first time in IPL history, the EFA match will held outside Mumbai. “The whole idea was that even if match was moved, the cause of EFA should not suffer. We will continue that cause. A lot of fans in India and globally support this cause in the social media besides a lot of sponsors supporting this initiative,” a Mumbai Indians spokesperson said.
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The privilege of watching live the international stars in action at the stadium, which these “special invitees” would otherwise not get, is the culmination of EFA’s round-the-year activity. “The Reliance Foundation works with NGOs in Mumbai, Pune and other parts of Maharashtra and support the children with education and other requirements for the last six years like free distribution of notebooks, books and other accessories. Every year, a new set off 18,000 children watch the match live. Who knows, some from this lot may be inspired from on-field performances,” the spokesperson added.
