It's Sachin vs Lara in Unacademy Road Safety World Series opener

Mumbai: In a much-anticipated clash of the titans, Sachin Tendulkar's India 

Legends take on Brian Lara's West Indies Legends in the opening match of the Unacademy Road Safety World Series at the historic Wankhede Stadium on March 7.The final will be played at the Brabourne Stadium in Cricket Club of India (CCI) ground on March 22. 

Of the total 11 matches, two will be played at the Wankhede Stadium, four at the MCA Stadium in Pune, four matches at DY Patil Stadium at Nerul in Navi Mumbai and the final at the picturesque Brabourne Stadium in Cricket Club of India ground. 

Pune will have the rare distinction of hosting two India matches (against South Africa Legends on March 14 and Australia Legends on March 20) while Wankhede and DY Patil will host one match each featuring the host team.

The Unacademy Road Safety World Series, is a five-nation T20 cricket  tournament which will showcase some of the biggest names in cricket from  India, Australia, Sri Lanka, West '

Indies and South Africa. 

Some notable  players who will feature in this Series includes Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Brian Lara,  Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brett Lee, Brad Hodge, Jonty Rhodes, Muttiah  Muralitharan, Tillakaratne 

Dilshan, Ajantha Mendis and many more. Former  India captain, Padma Bhushan and theliving legend Sunil Gavaskar  is the Commissioner of the Series.Every year, more than  1.5-2 lakh people die on Indian roads due to vehicular accidents; 

one  person dies every 4 minutes and 1,214 road accidents occur every day in  the country. In the last five years, more than 65 lakh people were  disabled completely. As cricket is the most followed sport in the  country and cricketers are looked up to as idols, the Series aims to  create awareness about road safety and change people's mind-set towards  their behaviour on the roads.

Ravi Gaikwad, RTO Chief  of Thane (Konkan Range), who is also a senior member of the Road Safety  Cell of Maharashtra and Chairman of the Trust, Shant Bharat Surakshit Bharat, said, "There has been a lot of excitement towards this  tournament and people were eagerly waiting for the schedule and the  tickets. I am extremely glad for the fans and I am sure they will come  in large numbers to cheer for the legends and also support this  important cause of creating awareness towards road safety in the  country. Road 

safety is a serious concern, one person dies every 4  minutes in India and we all should join hands to make our roads safe and  save precious human lives."Karan Shroff, Vice  President- Marketing, Unacademy, said, "The Road Safety World Series  binds together a cause that we feel deeply for, and a sport that is most  loved by our TG and their parents, on and off the platform. This  partnership will help us permeate the message that we want to convey as a  brand. It is indeed exciting to see all the buzz around the tournament,  and Unacademy is truly elated to be at the heart of it."

Albert  Almeida, COO ? Live Entertainment, BookMyShow: "We, at BookMyShow,  believe that live entertainment is an extremely effective medium to help  create awareness on civic 

and social issues. We are glad to have  associated with Road Safety World Series to address 

road safety concerns  in the country. It will be exciting to see cricket legends pitted  against 

each other with fans supporting their favourite players and  teams in huge numbers. We are committed to giving cricket fans an  unparalleled experience that starts with booking their tickets and ends  with a seamless match experience at the venue. Wishing all the teams 

good luck!"

Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass  Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18,said, "Cricket as a sport  binds people of our nation together and we are proud to bring Road  Safety World Series 'live' for the audience on COLORS Cineplex, COLORS  Kannada Cinema, VOOT, and Jio. The league brings back the cricketing  legends onto the field and as we inch a step closer to the  series-opening, we are excited to give the viewers an unparalleled  experience across their preferred screens."

Melroy D'Souza,  Chief Operations Officer, Professional Management Group, said, "We at  PMG are excited to see the legends of cricket take the field during the  Unacademy RoadSafety World Series from 7th-22nd March. We are confident  that fans will flock to the 

stadiums in large numbers and relive the  nostalgia that the heroes of cricket will provide."

Tickets to the matches will go live exclusively on BookMyShow from February 14 6:00 p.m. onwards.(UNI)