Gautam Gambhir isn’t satisfied just rescuing his cricket team in the IPL, the opening batsman has now come forward to help the Indian Ice Hockey team as well.
How? No, he hasn’t picked up skills on the ice, instead the KKR skipper has contributed Rs 4 lakhs to the Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) after they made a desperate call sometime back for support to fund the national team for an Asian-level tournament in Kuwait.
The former Indian vice-captain said it was his “moral responsibility” to support the sport as the team gets set to participate in the IIHF Ice Hockey Challenge Cup of Asia Division I in Kuwait from April 18-24.
“It’s the last thing to happen for a sportsperson that he cannot represent his country for the lack of funds. It’s the worst thing. After all, they will be called Team India irrespective of the sport they represent,” Gambhir said handing over a Rs 4 lakh cheque to the ice hockey team captain Tsewang Gyaltson at a city mall here.
“For any sportsman, it’s a great privilege to support any other sport, especially ice hockey which is not really popular in India. Hope they do well with this support and bring laurels to the country.”
- Gautam Gambhir
For Indian ice hockey captain Tsewang Gyaltson, the moment was like a dream come as they will now be participating in the tournament, with the help of Gambhir’s contibution, as well as many others’. “It’s a big moment for us. I’ll be captaining the side for the first time but we are confident and hope to do well and make the country proud,” the 23-year-old Gyaltson from Laddakh said sitting beside Gambhir.
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