Virat Kohli starts Covid-19 relief movement

India skipper Virat Kohli had returned to Mumbai after the IPL 2021 was suspended for an indefinite time with immediate effect earlier this week. There had been COVID-19 cases within the franchise team that led the BCCI to take the decision as a precautionary measure.

Now, Kohli has begun the process of working towards providing relief to those affected by COVID-19.

Rahul N Kanal, a member of Yuva Sena, the Shiv Sena's youth wing posted a picture on social media that said, “Meeting our Captain...Respect and love for the movement he has started working on for COVID relief... No words just Respect and Prayers for all his efforts !!!"

Earlier, Virat’s better half and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma had said that the couple was planning for the same and would be executing something very soon.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore which is led by Kohli had also pledged to provide financial support to contribute for the infrastructure related to oxygen support. The RCB players had to don a blue jersey in solidarity with the country's frontline workers but the suspension of the tournament put a halt on the team’s plans.

The country has seen a sudden rise in the COVID-19 cases. KKR’s Sandeep Warrior and Varun Chakravarthy, SRH’s Wriddhiman Saha, DC’s Amit Mishra and CSK’s bowling coach L.Balaji had tested positive for COVID-19.

The Bangalore-based franchise was having a decent run in this IPL after they had won five of the seven matches that they had played.

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Former U19 cricketer helps people suffering from Covid-19 related issues

A cricketer-turned-politician BV Srinivas, the Indian Youth Congress president has set a brilliant example after he along with his 1000-member has been helping people in these tough times all around the country. Srinivas has been arranging beds, oxygen, medicines, plasma and even helping people get vaccinated according to a report in The Indian Express. Srinivas said that he has a team of 1000 trained Youth Congress members who have been helping people in the country. “This year, starting from March 7, under the guidance and instruction of Rahul Gandhi, the youth Congress started to help people suffering from Covid-19 related issues. I am not alone in this. With me are 1,000 trained Youth Congress members,” Srinivas told Express. “Then in the first week of March this year, along with Rahul Gandhi, we held series of meetings to discuss how to tackle this second wave. Our first priority was to help the people in need of emergency medicines, oxygen, plasma and even food. We set up control rooms in all states to receive SOS messages on Covid-19,” he added. He has represented Karnataka at the U19 level and his career was put to halt after an eye injury back in 2003. The nation has seen a sudden spike in the COVID-19 cases in the last few days.

EXCLUSIVE | We are investigating all the possible angles: Additional DCP

The Delhi Police had arrested two men who had been suspected to be involved in betting from the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, May 2. The two were reportedly working for hospitality. In an exclusive conversation with OneCricket, Additional DCP (Central) Rohit Meena said that the investigation is going on. He further added that there are different angles that the Police are investigating regarding the case. “There is an investigation going on for now about how they got there,” he said. The Additional DCP further added that two men had the accreditation as well. “They had the accreditation card as well so we are also investigating as to how they got this. We are also trying to figure out how authentic these cards are and by what means did they get them,” he added. Both the accused had been produced before a Delhi Court and were sent to a five-day custody. “The two have been sent into custody for five days,” the Additional DCP said. A similar sort of incident happened at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad last week where two men were caught by the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit for passing information on phone and were later on handed to the Police. The IPL 2021 had been suspended with immediate effect earlier this week after there was a rise in COVID-19 cases within the franchise teams.

IPL 2021 suspension | MS Dhoni assures CSK teammates: "I'll be the last person to leave the hotel"

Taking responsibility for his teammates and support staff amid uncertain times of Covid-19, Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni assured his teammates that he will leave the team hotel only after all of them go back to their respective safely. He said that foreign players and support staffs should be sent home before Indian players head back with him being the last man to go home in a virtual meeting with the team. “Mahibhai said that he will be the last person to leave the hotel. He wanted foreigners to leave first, then the Indian players. He will be taking the last flight tomorrow when everyone reaches their home safe and secure,” The Indian Express report quoted a CSK member as saying. As per the same report, Dhoni is slated to go back to his home in Ranchi on Thursday, May 06 evening after Super Kings arranged two chartered flights from Delhi took CSK players went to their homes. The first chartered flight took players from Rajkot and Mumbai in the morning while another flight will carry players and staff to Bangalore and Chennai. Notably, MS Dhoni’s parents fell ill to Covid-19 in his home town Ranchi and were admitted to the hospital for further treatment.

Suspension of IPL 2021 'unfortunate, but right decision,' says SRH mentor VVS Laxman

Former Indian batsman and now a mentor of the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, VVS Laxman has said that the decision of suspending the tournament this year was an unfortunate but right decision considering the circumstances following the breach of biosecure bubbles. "Unfortunate as it might appear, the right decision was taken to suspend the IPL following the breach of biosecure bubbles of four franchises across two cities,” Laxman wrote in a column for Times of India. He said the fact that carefully managed biosecure bubbles which are considered very safe and secure in nature got breached shows that the novel coronavirus does not allow people to let their guard down, even for a millisecond. "In these unprecedented times, physical safety and mental health are of paramount importance. That even carefully structured bubbles can be breached is another lesson in our battle against the coronavirus -- to never let our guard down, even for a millisecond,” he added. He said that the Sunirsers Hyderabad side was full of confidence that their biosecure bubble was intact while they were moving from one city to another—in their case, from Chennai to New Delhi. But, as cases of Covid-19 started surfacing in the other camps led to apprehensions in the SRH camp which was followed by one of their own Wriddhiman Shah returning a positive result for the virus. “We had full confidence in the protocols that had been put in place even when we moved from one city to another, but once we learnt of the positive tests in the Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings camp, our apprehensions mounted,” Laxman opened up on SRH thought process. Laxman extended best wishes to Wriddhiman Saha and at the same time wondered how did the wicketkeeper-batsman contract the virus while living in a highly secure biosecure bubble.