Mumbai, June 5 (IANS) A charity football match between the film industry and Indian cricketers ended in a 2-2 draw, but actor Abhishek Bachchan said irrespective of the draw the noble cause for which the match was held emerged the winner.
The match, entitled ‘Celebrity Classico 2016′, between cricketers’ team ‘All Heart’ and the filmstars’ team ‘All Stars’ took place at the Mumbai Football Arena in Andheri Sports Complex on Saturday.
Abhishek’s charity Playing for Humanity and cricketer Virat Kohli’s charity The Virat Kohli Foundation were behind this initiative to raise funds for those affected by the severe drought in Maharashtra.
The All Stars was captained by Ranbir Kapoor and had players like Aditya Roy Kapur, Shoojit Sircar, Raj Kundra among others. All Heart was captained by Virat and had players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, among others.
It was Sircar who scored the first goal for All Stars, while the second goal came from Ranbir’s trainer Antonio Pecora. For All Heart, it was Yuvraj Singh and KL Rahul who scored the goals.
“Well it was a draw and we’re very happy because the last time we played we lost by one goal. I’m very proud of Ranbir and the entire team. They played with all their hearts. We are very proud and honoured that we got the opportunity to play against the Indian cricket team,” Abhishek said after the match.
“A draw is as good as a win. At the end of the day, we did this for a great cause — to raise awareness and funds for drought victims. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses. The people we did it for win at the end of the day,” he added.
The actor said that it was the idea of Aditya Thackeray, president of Shiv Sena’a youth wing Yuva Sena, to do the charity match for drought victims.
“It’s been my favourite sport since childhood and we all took it seriously. We play every Sunday. We’re really happy that we can play for such a good cause,” Ranbir said.
Ranbir and Abhishek are co-owners of football teams in the Indian Super League.