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T he Mumbai Indians hosted the Delhi Capitals on their annual ESA Day, an initiative started as part of the Reliance Foundation (RIL's CSR arm) and Mumbai Indians' initiative Education and Sports for All (ESA). The five-time IPL champs invite kids from NGOs across the city to watch a live game and cheer on their favourite cricketers.
Mumbai Indians started this tradition of marking a day in the IPL season at their home venue since the last season when the tournament returned to the traditional home and away format. In 2023, Mumbai defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders.
This year Mumbai Indians invited 18,000 children, including 200 children with special needs from diverse NGOs to Wankhede Stadium, who donned special ESA t-shirts. These children were accompanied by 2000 volunteers and a fleet of 500 BEST buses.
Talking about this gesture, Hardik Pandya said, "It’s always exciting to see 18,000 kids coming to the ground and cheering for us and Mumbai Indians. We’ll be looking to make their day, hopefully with a win. I feel very privileged to be a part of these games and influence their life in a small way."
Similarly, Rohit Sharma also expressed excitement as he opined, "The story of each and every kid who will we be there at the stadium is inspiring. They have a difficult life. Really impressed with the work being put in by Reliance Foundation and Mrs Ambani for giving the children what they need."
