Mumbai Indians’ IPL 2023 match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday witnessed over 19,000 girls from all over Mumbai at Wankhede Stadium, cheering on the players throughout the match, lighting up the stands with their enthusiasm and energy with every boundary and wicket taken by home team, creating a memory that will stay with them as well as the players for years to come.
Ishan Kishan hammered a half-century while Suryakumar roared back to form to negate a brilliant 104 off 51 deliveries by Venkatesh Iyer and help Mumbai defeat Kolkata by five wickets to register their second win of the ongoing season.
“I am quite overwhelmed. Look at the energy, the excitement and the enthusiasm in the stadium. ESA matches are always special. This year, we have 19,000 girls in the stadium from different NGOs. Many of them are seeing a live cricket match for the first time. It’s a very emotional day for all of us,” said Nita M. Ambani, Chairperson, Reliance Foundation and Owner, Mumbai Indians, during the game, on the special ‘ESADay’ dedicated to the girl child,
“Today’s match is about the celebration of women in sports. I wanted to highlight that girls have a right to education and sports. I hope all these girls and those watching on TV have the courage to follow their dreams and achieve whatever they want. That’s the reason why we have called all of them today to just feel inspired and take a lot of courage back home,” she added.
She mentioned that some of the girls in the stands today could be the superstars of tomorrow.
“There might be a Jhulan here or a Harmanpreet here, not just cricket but a superstar in the future from any sport. They can be achievers on the global stage and win accolades for India,” she said.
At the toss, accompanying Suryakumar Yadav, was Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian women’s team captain and Mumbai Indians captain in the WPL, who was there to support this special match, a celebration of women in sports.
The Mumbai Indians wore a special jersey for the game — the Mumbai Indians WPL jersey, to show their support and make a strong statement, both nationally and internationally and bring to attention the right to education and sports for girls.
Nita Ambani, who has been a vocal supporter at the boundary line for MI matches, also joined the girls in the stands, watching the game along with them. The young girls were seen in conversation with her.
Speaking about her interactions, she said,”It was really special. The girls were so excited and thankful. I just wish them well and may god bless all of them. More power to the girls.”
In addition to Harman, members of the Mumbai Indians women team who won the inaugural WPL season were also in attendance and cheering and celebrating their love for cricket and the support from the girls from all over the stadium.