Mumbai, June 5 (IANS) The charity football match between the teams from the film industry and Indian cricketers ended in a 2-2 draw, but actor Abhishek Bachchan said irrespective of the draw, the noble cause and the people for whom the match was held emerged winner.
The match, titled Celebrity Classico 2016, had the cricketers’ team All Heart and the film stars’ team All Stars battling it out. Abhishek’s charity Playing for Humanity and Virat’s charity, the Virat Kohli Foundation, were behind this initiative.
The All Stars was captained by Ranbir Kapoor and had players like Aditya Roy Kapur, Shoojit Sircar and Raj Kundra among others. All Heart was captained by Virat and had players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, R. Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh, among others.
It was Sircar who scored the first goal for All Stars and they went on tom score the second by Ranbir’s trainer, Antonio Pecora. For All Heart, it was Yuvraj Singh and K.L. 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 heart,” Abhishek said.
“You have to remember that these are all actors and they are possibly the best athletes in the world. We’re very proud and honoured that we got the opportunity to play against the Indian cricket team.”
“A draw is as good as a win. At the end of the day, we had done 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,” Abhishek addded.
Aditya Thackeray, president of Yuva Sena of the political party Shiv Sena, was also present at the event. Abhishek said it was Aditya’s idea to do something for the victims of drought in the country and he also helped them arrange for the football ground.
Ranbir said: “Football has 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. The infrastructure is growing in our city, it’s really promoting the sport.”
Ranbir and Abhishek are co-owners of football teams in the Indian Super League.