Australian cricketers hope to raise Rs 73 lakh for Covid-19 relief in India

Pat Cummins. Pic/AFP

Australia's top cricketers will display skills in gaming on Thursday as they look to raise USD 100,000 for Covid-19 relief in India. The money raised will go to UNICEF Australia's India Covid-19 Crisis Appeal.

The likes of pace bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood and spinner Nathan Lyon will be on live stream as they will talk cricket and play video games. The initiative is the brainchild of domestic cricketer Josh Lalor.

From 5pm AEST (12.30 pm India time) on Thursday night until 5am AEST (12.30 am India time) the following morning, Lalor will be joined by a host of cricketers.

Moises Henriques, women cricketer Alyssa Healy and South African Rilee Rossouw are among other cricketers to participate in the initiative.

"The enjoyable thing about it is it'll be a couple of guys doing what they do in their spare time, which the public don't get to see a lot of," Lalor was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

"We see Pat Cummins doing what he does on the cricket field, but he's one of the worst (video game) players you can play with! Which is fair enough because he's busy doing other things in cricket," Lalor added.

The 33-year-old Lalor said the intention will not be just to play games but also to talk a bit about cricket.

"The intent will be to be playing games, but also talk a bit of cricket as well. It'll be a nice way to engage and see a different side to these guys," he added.

The 12-hour show will also include interview of Cricket Australia's newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer, Nick Hockley.

The Covid-19 pandemic has made online gaming popular with most people forced to spend time indoor.

India is going through a second wave of pandemic that has cost tens of thousands of lives and also forced the suspension of the Indian Premier League 2021 last month.

Australian cricket has so far raised over USD 280,000 as part of UNICEF Australia's India Covid-19 Crisis Appeal, cricket.com.au said.

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