Jaipur, May 1 Former England men’s football team manager Gareth Southgate and India’s para shooter Avani Lekhara were spotted at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium during Thursday’s IPL 2025 match between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Mumbai Indians (MI).
Southgate, who resigned as the England manager two days after their defeat to Spain in the final of UEFA Euro 2024, was seen wearing a special pink Rajasthan Royals jersey while watching the game with other foreign dignitaries in attendance. Southgate's affinity towards cricket is not a new development, as he has previously expressed his admiration for the Test team’s mindset during the 2023 Ashes.
Southgate had stepped down as the England manager after the side’s defeat to Spain in the 2024 Euro final. On the other hand, RR’s social media channels showed Avani, the two-time Paralympic gold medallist in women's 10m air rifle standing SH1, enjoying the action during the first innings.
In between, she was also presented the special pink jersey by RR’s director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara in a video posted on their social media accounts. In return, the Jaipur-based Avani also presented Sangakkara and the franchise with a signed jersey worn by the Indian contingent in last year’s Paralympics.
"Thanks again Sanga and Avani! Can we quickly have the jersey in? Thanks you very much for coming. Thanks for supporting us also," said the caption in the video in the Instagram post.
The all-pink jerseys being worn by RR against MI is a part of their pink promise initiative led by the franchise’s Royal Rajasthan Foundation (RRF), the social equity arm of the franchise, which works towards women-led transformation in rural Rajasthan.
Under this, 100 rupees from every match ticket purchased for the ongoing match and the sale of special pink jerseys will go to support women-led rural transformation in Rajasthan, including lighting up six homes in the Sambhar region with solar power for every six hit by either team.
Coming to the match, Ryan Rickleton and Rohit Sharma smashed 61 and 53 respectively, while Suryakumar Yadav and captain Hardik Pandya provided the finishing touches with unbeaten cameos of 48 respectively to power MI to a massive 217/2 in their 20 overs against RR. A win for MI will continue their winning streak, boost their net run rate, and take them to the top of the points table.
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