Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 9 (ANI): India will once again witness the legends in action as the Road Safety World Series T20 gets underway at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur from March 2 to 21.

The first edition of the series had to be called off after four games on March 11 last year due to the COVID-19 situation worldwide. All remaining matches will be played in a newly-built 65,000 capacity stadium in Raipur.

An array of stars including Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara, Bret Lee, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Muttiah Muralitharan, and many more legends of five cricket playing nations — Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and host India — will be back in the field to recreate the magic of old in the annual T20 cricket tournament, organized to create awareness towards road safety in the country.

As cricket is the most followed sport in the country and cricketers are looked upon as idols, this League aims to influence and change people’s mindset towards their behaviour on the roads.

“It is a matter of great pride and honour to be hosting the legends in Raipur during the Road Safety World Series, which I believe is a wonderful concept to create awareness about the menace, and a very important one given that one person dies every four minutes on Indian roads,” said Chief Minister of Chattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel.

“I also believe that this tournament will bring a smile to millions in this hour of gloom. I extend a very warm welcome to everyone in Chattisgarh,” he added.

The Road Safety World Series is an initiative by the Road Safety Cell of Maharashtra in association with the Professional Management Group (PMG) spearheaded by Little Master Sunil Gavaskar as the Commissioner of the Series and Sachin Tendulkar is the Brand Ambassador of the League.

“The year gone by has taught us a very important lesson, to be compassionate towards our fellowmen, if we can show the same compassion and empathy to everyone on the road, our roads will be safer for all — walkers, cyclists, bikers, motorists et all,” said founder of the Road Safety World Series Ravi Gaikwad.

“To spread awareness towards road safety, the Unacademy Road Safety World Series started with lot of hope and promise last year, but had to call it off due to the challenging times,” Gaikwad, who is also a Senior Member in the Road Safety Cell of Maharashtra further said.

“But, I am extremely glad to announce that we are here again, and I am thankful to all, the players, the officials, our broadcast partners and our large workforce who have come together to take the initiative forward in these difficult times,” he added. (ANI)