ⓘ Featured image: A file-photo of the renowned tennis star Sania Mirza; Credits: wtatennis.com

India’s tennis sweetheart Sania Mirza, winner of six Grand Slam titles has won hearts and made India proud again today. Sania has completed her 14-day self-quarantine and returned from the US to join hands with an NGO named Safa Society in a move to help daily-wage workers who are going through toughest times amid the 21-day lockdown in India due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Sania in a conversation with The Hindu on Tuesday said that every sport or tournament according to her is irrelevant amidst the destructive Coronavirus outbreak. She also revealed that she initially donated to the NGO to help daily-wage earners but sooner decided to get completely involved. The renowned tennis star is aiming to raise over INR 1.5 crore ($300K).

“The pandemic has made tennis, or for that matter, any sport irrelevant. Right now, I am not concerned about events getting cancelled, even Wimbledon. Tennis is a small part of our lives. We are fighting a larger issue,” “First I donated to the NGO, then I felt it would be great to be involved in a collective effort for better results. I am glad that within one week we could raise ₹1.5 crore,” “This crisis has reminded us that we take many things for granted. I am saddened by visuals of people walking 800 km just to reach their homes,” The Hindu

Mirza added that the initiative will begin with addressing the needs of the people in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, North Karnataka and Hyderabad and will try its best to identify and reach the real beneficiaries,

“Given the kind of response from across the country, it has been a really challenging task to identify real beneficiaries. But, we are taking utmost care that the needs of these people are well and truly addressed. We are reaching out to people in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, North Karnataka and Hyderabad to start with.” The Hindu