Indian and South African cricketers donate Rs 5.5 lakh to Cape Town Water Crisis

Indian skipper Virat Kohli and his South African counterpart Faf du Plessis have donated Rs 5.5 lakhs (100,000 Rand) to the Cape Town Water Crisis on behalf of both teams.

The cheque was handed over to the Gift of the Givers during the third and last T20I of the three-match series between the two sides at Newlands on Sunday.

Gift of the Givers will use the donation to drill boreholes as well as supply bottled water to organisations in desperate need.

Kohli stressed on the importance of getting involved in this campaign. "Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and whenever we visit and play at Newlands, we are treated extremely well by the local people. By creating awareness of the drought, we are playing our part in highlighting the drought so people can see the seriousness of what's taking place in the Mother City," commented Kohli.

Du Plessis, on the other hand, said, "Both teams had first-hand experience of the Water Crisis in Cape Town and, having chatted to Virat, we decided to get our teams to sign some jerseys which we auctioned off with the funds raised going to assist the Cape Town Water Crisis."

"We also wanted to create awareness and hope that other organisations and sports codes follow in our direction," Du Plessis added.

India ended their tour to South Africa on high as they registered a seven-run win over South Africa in the third and final T20I to clinch the three-match series 2-1 at Newlands. The Virat Kohli-led side had earlier won the six-match ODI series 5-1.