IPL 2019: CSK to donate proceeds from first game to Pulwama martyrs' families

Captain MS Dhoni, who is honorary Lt. Colonel of the Indian Territorial Army, will present the cheque to the family of the martyrs

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will donate proceeds from their first IPL home game to families of the CRPF personnel martyred in the Pulwama terrorist attack, with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni presenting the cheque.

The 12th Indian Premier League will begin with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore and ticket proceeds of the game, scheduled to be heal at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday, will go to the kin of the CRPF personnel who lost their lives in the February 14 terror attack, said CSK's director Rakesh Singh.

“ChennaiIPL first home match ticket proceeds will go towards the families of the victims of Pulwama Attack. Captain MS Dhoni, who is honorary Lt. Colonel of the Indian Territorial Army, will present the cheque!" Singh said on the team's twitter handle.

Tickets to the much-awaited game were sold out within hours of the opening day sale.

Apart from CSK, Kings XI Punjab donated Rs five lakh each to families of five CRPF soldiers killed in the Pulwama terror attack in February.

The cheques were given to kin of five CRPF jawans hailing from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, who lost their lives in the deadly terror attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama. Cheques were distributed among family members of Jaimal Singh, Sukhjinder Singh, Maninder Singh, Kulwinder Singh and Tilak Raj.

Kings XI captain Ravichandran Ashwin, DIG CRPF V K Kaundal were present at the event.

More than 40 jawans lost their lives in the attack perpetrated by Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in South Kashmir's Pulwama.

As a mark of respect for the martyrs, Indian cricketers recently sported special army caps during the third ODI against Australia and donated their match fee to the National Defence Fund.