Rohit Sharma joins Coronavirus fight with a contribution of Rs 80 lakh

Bengaluru, March 31: India opener Rohit Sharma on Tuesday (March 31) joined the list of celebrities contributing to the coronavirus fight, announcing the donation of Rs 80 lakh through various channels.

"We need our country back on feet & the onus is on us. I've done my bit to donate 45lakhs to #PMCaresFunds, 25lakhs to #CMReliefFund Maharashtra, 5lakhs to @FeedingIndia and 5lakhs to #WelfareOfStrayDogs.Let's get behind our leaders and support them @narendramodi @CMOMaharashtra," Rohit wrote on his Twitter handle.

On Monday, Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma too pledged an undisclosed amount to PM's CM Of Maharashtra's Relief funds, and earned a lot of bouquets from social media for staying away from hype.

Rohit is seen as a role model by many and also one of the finest cricketing brains in the contemporary cricket. Rohit has tasted immense success as captain, be it the Indian Premier League (IPL) or while leading the Indian team in limited-overs cricket in regular skipper Virat Kohli's absence.

Under his captaincy, Mumbai Indians have won the IPL trophy four times. For Team India, he has led the team 10 times in ODIs out of which he won eight games while in T20Is, he won 15 matches out of the 19 he played as captain.

The 32-year-old was slated to lead Mumbai in the 13th IPL edition of the IPL which now stands postponed till April 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak. Had the IPL started on Sunday, Rohit would have led MI in the tournament opener against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede.

He recently said IPL can wait for the time being amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far infected over 1,000 people in India and claimed 29 lives.

"We should first think about the country. The situation needs to get better first then we can talk about the IPL. Let life get back to normal first," Rohit said.