As many as 40 kids from multiple NGOs got an opportunity to paint a mural along with the entire Mumbai Indians squad and Mrs. Nita Ambani on Thursday. The kids got an opportunity to interact with Mrs. Ambani and the MI squad apart from spending the evening painting a unique Education & Sports for All (ESA) mural which will be on display at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday for our game against Rajasthan Royals. There were many interactive and fun activities for the youngsters to enjoy. One such activity even saw select lucky children performing an MI-themed dance in front of the squad.

Mumbai Indians and Mrs. Ambani began supporting underprivileged students through the Education for All (EFA) initiative in 2010, which evolved to ESA in 2018. The ESA initiative aims to provide a holistic approach to the development of children by focusing on education and sports. After MI’s win against Kings XI Punjab, Mrs. Ambani spoke about the importance of putting on a good show for the kids against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede.

“The match on the 13^th (against Rajasthan) is really important for me as well as the underprivileged kids that ESA supports, who will be at the ground (on Saturday). And because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them, I want you guys to make the day special for them. These kids will never get another opportunity and they have had to wait for this one, so please do not disappoint them,” Mrs. Ambani said after MI’s win against KXIP.

All-rounder Yuvraj Singh hailed the initiative and spoke of his desire to put on a good show for the children against Rajasthan. “Great initiative and really had a good time with the kids. Looking forward to them watching the game and hopefully we can make it special for them,” Yuvraj said at the event.

New Zealand seamer Mitchell McClenaghan also echoed Yuvraj’s sentiment. “We just finished painting the wall with all the kids outside. We're here celebrating or getting prepared for the ESA game with RR in a couple of days. Pretty awesome to mingle with all the kids, couple of them have been to games before and shared their experiences of how good it was and how enjoyable it was and it's also amazing to be a part of MI and the initiative of ESA and to be able to support these kids here in their future, sports and education,” McClenaghan said.

MI have previously provided many of these children an opportunity to watch their favourite stars live at the Wankhede as well.