Nicholas Pooran donates portion of his IPL 2021 salary to India's fight against COVID-19

India is undergoing severe health crisis at the moment with the second wave of COVID-19 wrecking havoc across the country. As many as 3.86 lakh cases were reported on Thursday alone while the fatality rate has also increased a lot compared to last year. Amidst all this, the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is currently in progress in a strict bio-bubble in the country.

Though many are criticising the BCCI for continuing with the T20 extravaganza, the players featuring in the tournament have come forward to help the country in these tough times. It started with Kolkata Knight Riders bowler Pat Cummins donating $50,000 to PM CARES Fund after which Brett Lee, Sheldon Jackson and Shreevats Goswami followed suit.

Another cricketer added to the list is Nicholas Pooran who is playing for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) this season. He has decided to donate a portion of his IPL salary to help India recover from the pandemic. He revealed the same in his tweet while also stating that he is praying for the people and hoped that country gets back on its feet soon from this crisis.

“Although many other countries are still being affected by the pandemic, the situation in India right now is particularly severe. I will do my part to bring awareness and financial assistance to this dire situation,” Pooran wrote in his tweet.

Punjab Kings had bought Pooran for Rs 4.2 crore

Punjab Kings had secured Nicholas Pooran’s services for Rs 4.2 crore during the IPL 2019 auction and has been playing for the franchise since then. However, apart from a couple of knocks here and there, the wicketkeeper-batsman from West Indies is yet to set the stage on fire.

He has so far played in 27 matches and has mustered 549 runs at an average of 26.14 and a strikte-rate of 159.13 with two half-centuries. In the ongoing season, Punjab are struggling with four losses from six matches and will be facing the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in match 26 of the tournament. They will be hoping for Pooran to click at some point and win matches for them. Meanwhile, his recent kind gesture for India has certainly won many hearts.