Kohli, de Villiers, other RCB players rename jerseys in honour of COVID-19 heroes

Royal Challengers Bangalore won their first game in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday. But, the Bangalore team also won hearts when they wore jerseys with the names of COVID-19 frontline workers and honoured them ahead of the match.

Skipper Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and the rest of the RCB team paid tribute to COVID-19 heroes by wearing their names on their team jersey before the start of the IPL match to appreciate their challenger spirit, calling them “Real Challengers” for their dedication to fight the pandemic. RCB won the match against SRH by 10 runs.

AB de Villiers' Twitter profile

Kohli and de Villiers also changed their Twitter profile names to two COVID-19 heroes Simranjeet Singh and Paritosh Pant respectively. The display pictures also showed the jersey with the names of the COVID-19 warriors. However, Kohli has now changed it back to his own name and picture.

“Simranjeet Singh is hearing-impaired but that did not stop him from helping others in the pandemic. He approached people to raise donations for the poor suffering in the pandemic and many hearing-impaired individuals agreed. These individuals weren’t from any particular organisation and they selflessly donated funds. Simranjeet Singh along with his friends raised Rs 98,000 to help people,” RCB said in a statement.

Taking to Twitter, de Villiers wrote, “I salute Paritosh, who started ‘Project Feeding from Far’ with Pooja & fed meals 2 needy during the lockdown. I wear his name on my back this season to appreciate their challenger spirit.”

Umesh Yadav also took to Twitter to highlight the contributions of Shahnawaz who helped the needy during the health crisis.

“This Real Challenger, Shahnawaz Shaikh even sold his car to buy oxygen cylinders for the needy. Saluting his selflessness, I am wearing a jersey dedicated to him and all the other real challengers this season,” he tweeted.

It is reported that RCB players will sport the jerseys with ‘My COVID Heroes’ emblazoned on them throughout the IPL in honour of frontline workers.