‘Master Blaster’ reaches city to lead India Legends

Kanpur: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar landed in the city on Wednesday to lead defending champions India Legends in the second edition of the Road Safety World Series (RSWS) to be played from September 10 to October 1 in Kanpur, Raipur, Indore and Dehradun.
After taking a little rest, Tendulkar reached the Green Park stadium and met with old team mates such as Yusuf Pathan and Ramesh Powar.
Thereafter, along with local lads, they went to nets and spent some time there. Meanwhile, some more players reached the city to take part in the first leg of RSWS. The staff and organizers of the hotel where the team is putting up welcomed Sachin at the hotel. On the request of photographers, removed his mask for a photo shoot.
Anas Baqai, the corporate head of the event, said the organizers have decided to invite students at a special price to witness the matches.
Talking about the long and rich cricketing tradition of Kanpur, Anas said “Kanpur has a long and rich cricketing tradition. Green Park has been one of the primary test venues in the country where many great players have played”.
During the RSWS too, the fans in the city, especially the young ones, will be able to witness stalwarts in the next few days. Apart from legendary Sachin Tendulkar, India’s 2011 World Cup heroes Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Munaf Patel and Suresh Raina will be seen in action.
In reply to a question how cricket could help create awareness towards road safety and what kind of messages it will give to create awareness towards road safety, Baqai said, “Cricket is like a ‘religion’ in India and cricketers are regarded as idols by many”.
Random messages on road safety, which may not attract any attention otherwise generates a lot of hype if done by a cricketer. Sachin Tendulkar, asking to put on seat belts and wear helmets, can make a lot of impact on young minds and that can be very effective, he added.
“To convey these messages, a lot of banners have been put up across the stadium with road safety slogans. These messages will also come from the cricketers displayed on giant screens inside the stadium during breaks”, he said.
RSWS had honoured road safety heroes in the past and this tradition would also be maintained in Kanpur. Anyone who has done something to create awareness towards road safety can be a "Road Safety Hero”, Anas Baqai said.
“RSWS matches will be live on channels like Colors Cineplex, Colors Cineplex Superhits and newly launched Sports18 Khel while it will be digitally streaming on VOOT and Jio. Tickets for the matches are now available online in ‘Book my show' India's biggest online movie and events ticketing brand”, he added.