12 Philanthropists - The most kind hearted cricketers

12 Philanthropists – The most kind hearted cricketers: Cricket is not called the gentleman’s game for nothing. A professional career should be made up of two phases: the first should go in accumulating wealth, and the second to use that wealth for charitable purposes. It is perhaps the second phase that makes life worthwhile. The world will see far lesser misery if those blessed with abundance of wealth and power were to work to uplift the status of the needy. When we see only one side of the cricketers on the field which is aggressive and intense we miss out on their off field social service. You need to go no further than this article to find out the 12 Philanthropists – The most kind hearted cricketers: 1. Sir Ian Botham: Sir Ian Botham. ( © Getty Images) The England all-rounder has pushed his body to the limits to support charitable causes with a total of 12 long-distance charity walks. His charitable efforts include a visit to hospital to treat a broken toe when he mistakenly entered into a children’s ward. He was shaken to hear that some of the children had just days to live. Since then, he has raised more than £12 million for charity, with Leukemia Research among the principal beneficiaries. In 2003 he became the first-ever President of Leukemia Research, UK’s leading blood cancer charity. His sustained charitable efforts, along with his cricketing achievements, earned him a knighthood in 2007 from Queen Elizabeth II. Also Read – All time England Test XI- The Greatest English players ever 2. Imran Khan: Few cricketers have done for the lesser-privileged sections of the society more than what Imran has done. Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust is a state-of-the-art charitable organisation in the name and memory of his mother providing free medical care for thousands since inception in 1994. Imran established Pakistan’s first and only cancer hospital in his mother’s honour by raising donations exceeding $25 million from all over the world. The institution has spent over Rs. 12 billion supporting thousands of poor cancer patients. 3. Steve Waugh: Steve Waugh. (Photo Source: AllSport) Steve Waugh’s efforts to help raise funds for the rehabilitation of leprosy patients’ children of Udayan, in Kolkata is truly remarkable because it is for the cause of a section thousands of miles away from his own country, in a different continent. For the 300-odd children, Waugh is “Father Teresa”. In 2009, Waugh also opened the India chapter of the Steve Waugh Foundation that aims at improving the lives of children suffering from rare diseases. Thanks to Udayan, Waugh has visited India over 60 times since his first visit in 1986 and considers India as his “second home”. 4. Shahid Afridi: Shahid Afridi. (© Getty Images) Following in the footsteps of Imran Khan, Shahid Afridi established a charitable trust with the objective to provide basic healthcare and education to the people of Pakistan. The Shahid Afridi Foundation was established in March 2014 and the core concept behind it is: Charity laced with absolute philanthropy. The hospital caters to the underprivileged people of Kohat, with little or no means to basic medical healthcare. It’s a maternity hospital in Tangi Banda, Kohat, which provides free treatment, medicines and care for patients. It has just completed its first phase of development, with around 16 beds at the moment, and has major expansion plans. 5. Yuvraj Singh: Yuvraj Singh. (Photo Source: YouWeCan) If there is one Indian cricket who has taken to focused charity in a big way, it is Yuvraj Singh. Following his battle with cancer, Yuvraj formed the “YouWeCan”, an initiative of the Yuvraj Singh Foundation, to tackle cancer early. The aim of the initiative is twofold: To create awareness and eradicate the socio- psychological stigma attached with cancer and provide mobile cancer examination stations within the reach of masses with a view to make routine check- ups a habit. 6. Mahela Jayawardene: Mahela Jayawardene. (© Getty Images) Like Imran and McGrath whose interest in work for cancer was triggered by losing close family member, Mahela Jaywardene’s efforts to help alleviate the sufferings of people afflicted from the dreaded disease was born following the demise of his brother to cancer. Jaywardene is huge supporter of HOPE cancer project.He now plans to build Sri Lanka’s first-ever cancer hospital, a 750-bed cancer unit at Maharagama, a suburb in Colombo. 7. Sachin Tendulkar: Sachin Tendulkar. (© Getty Images) Humility personified is Sachin Tendulkar for you. The cricketing legend prefers to do things quietly. But what is well established in the public domain is the fact that he is a huge supporter of Apnalaya, an NGO which is close to his mother-in-law, Annabel. She has dedicated four decades of her life to Apnalaya and is now the NGO’s president. Tendulkar sponsors about 200 under-privileged children every year through Apnalaya. In 2011, he raised a corpus fund of 1.35 crore to help more than 300 kids in their treatment and recovery from cancer. 8. Virender Sehwag: Virender Sehwag. (© Getty Images) It was Virender Sehwag’s dream to give back to the Cricket community what he learnt for so many years through his single-minded dedication. And, that’s how Sehwag Cricket Academy was envisioned in 2011. The Academy, with its state-of-the-art facilities and renowned coaches, promise to provide quality training to budding cricketers world-over. Through the structured coaching programs, regular matches & tournaments and advisory sessions with experts, young talents are trained to become skilled cricketers. 9. Muttiah Muralitharan: Mutthaiah Muralitharan. (Photo Source: AFP) Seenigama is a village on the south coast of Sri Lanka, about 22 kilometres north-west of Galle. It is here that Muttiah Muralitharan established the Foundation of Goodness in the early 2000s. The foundation supports the needs of the locals, education, health care, housing, livelihood etc. Murali has been supported in his noble cause by several cricketers in Sri Lankan, Australia and England. Murali now has his eyes set on building a one million dollar sports complex for war-displaced civilians in Mankulam, a town located 300 kilometers from north of Colombo. 10. Ricky Ponting: Ricky Ponting. (© Getty Images) The Ponting Foundation is yet another effort by a cricketer to help families beat cancer. It was in 2002 a good friend invited Ponting to the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia (CCIA) to visit the Sydney Children’s Hospital and meet the children and their families in the oncology ward. The Foundation also funds programs that assist in the care and well-being of the wider family unit as they support their child through their illness. 11. Glenn McGrath: Glenn McGrath. (© Getty Images) McGrath’s wife Jane’s battle with breast cancer led to her death at the young age of 31. The McGrath Foundation is now synonymous with cricket. Established by Jane McGrath and her husband, Glenn, following Jane’s personal experience with breast cancer, it is one of Australia’s leading breast cancer support organisations with over 33,000 Australian families supported by our 102 McGrath Breast Care Nurses nationally in the last six years. The 2013/14 summer marked the sixth year of the McGrath Foundation’s friendship with Cricket Cares, Cricket Australia’s community action program. Cricket Australia, too, has helped the foundation get meaningful mileage during international matches in Australia. 12. Irfan Pathan: Irfan Pathan. (Photo Source: Irfan Pathan Facebook Handle). Irfan is doing charitable work ever since the formation of the Mahmood Pathan Charitable Trust in 2007. The left arm medium pacer has also decided to use all the finance he gets from the reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhlaja’ for the ‘Cricket Academy of Pathans’ – a joint foundation he runs with elder brother Yusuf. The academy is a self-funded project for the under-privileged children. It focuses on nutrition, psychology and physical developments of budding cricket aspirants. He is also the brand ambassador of UNICEF in their attempt to fight against gender discrimination and empower mentally challenged children with care, compassion and love to develop their maximum potential and rehabilitate them in the mainstream of our society. Irfan was also recently announced as the Brand ambassador of Yuva Unstoppable which works for the underprivileged. Also Read – 14 Gentlemen of the game – Cricketers loved all over the Globe

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12 Philanthropists - The most kind hearted cricketers

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