Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Yuzvendra Chahal changed their profile names on respective Twitter handles as a tribute to the “selfless frontline warriors” who have served various communities during the COVID-19 crisis. Part of Royal Challengers Bangalore‘s initiative #MyCovidHeroes, Kohli, De Villiers and Chahal changed their names on Twitter to Simranjeet Singh, Paritosh Pant and Dr Nayak hours before their first Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 match against SunRisers Hyderabad in Dubai. Their profile pictures too had these names of “My Covid Heroes” on the back of their RCB jerseys.

I salute Paritosh,who started ‘Project Feeding from Far’ with Pooja & fed meals 2 needy during the lockdown. I wear his name on my back this season 2 appreciate their challenger spirit

Share your #MyCovidHeroes story with us#WeAreChallengers #RealChallengers#ChallengeAccepted

— Paritosh Pant (@ABdeVilliers17) September 20, 2020

“To acknowledge the efforts and honour the sacrifices made by these real challengers, RCB team will proudly don a tribute jersey with the message “My Covid Heroes” both during training and matches for the entire tournament,” read an RCB release published on September 17.

“In the past few months, whenever I heard the stories of the Covid Heroes it has given me literal goosebumps,” Kohli had said at the time.

“These real challengers have made the country proud and inspired all of us to be more persistent and dedicated to our efforts to build a better tomorrow.

“I am truly proud to wear RCB’s “My Covid Heroes” jersey as a sign of solidarity and gratitude to everyone who is right now going the extra mile to support the community at large. They have batted day and night and fought on the field, and I am honoured to call them my heroes.”

Promoted

Simranjeet Singh, one of Kohli’s COVID hero, is hearing impaired who raised donations for the people suffering in the pandemic. He along with his friends raised Rs. 98,000 for relief work.

RCB play their first IPL 2020 match against SRH on Monday in Dubai.