Sachin Tendulkar's incredible act for Covid-ravaged India

Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has followed in Pat Cummins' path and donated to a fundraising campaign to help his nation fight Covid-19.

India is suffering from unprecedented carnage with more than 300,000 new Covid-19 cases a day, despite numbers believed to be higher than actual figures.

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Despite a fierce debate on whether the Indian Premier League should be going ahead during the catastrophe, Aussie fast bowler Cummins has led the way with a stunning donation towards helping alleviate the pressure India.

Cummins received plenty of support from within the cricket community and outside it after his generosity and now India's greatest ever batter has followed in his footsteps.

Tendulkar donated 10 million rupees (approximately $AUD173,000) to a fundraising campaign that is helping hospitals treating Covid-19 patients to procure oxygen concentrators.

Mission Oxygen, which describes itself as a non-for-profit, charitable initiative, said it has placed an order for 1,365 concentrators from China and thanked Tendulkar for his donation.

On Thursday, India's total cases passed 18 million as it reported 379,257 new infections and 3,645 new deaths - the highest number of fatalities in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

Cummins' IPL plea amid chaos

But amid the chaos, the BCCI's decision to continue the IPL amid the country's death and destruction has sparked outrage and disbelief.

Now, Cummins - who remained in India to see out the IPL in a biosecurity bubble - has weighed in on the debate.

The Aussie fast bowler said he believed the little entertainment the competition offers for the cricket-mad nation was worth the distraction from the horrors outside.

"We are doing everything we can to make sure we don't take any resources out of the frontline," the 27-year-old told WION news channel.

"There's an aspect that us playing every night for three or four hours hopefully contributes to making people stay at home more, or at least ... can help them get through each day.

"I don't think ending the IPL is the answer."

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with AAP

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