Rohit Sharma: Saving the oceans will forever be my cause

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma. Pic/AFP

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma has environmental issues very close to his heart, it seems. The cricketer came out on the field against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Saturday wearing shoes with "Save the Corals" art on them. MI defeated the David Warner-led SRH by 13 runs, with Trent Boult and Rahul Chahar taking three wickets apiece.

During the Indian Premier League (IPL) opening match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Sharma was seen wearing spikes with "Save the Rhinos" art, while in the second tie against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 13, the stylish India player had "Plastic-free Ocean" art on his shoes.

On Saturday, Sharma chose to bring awareness about the conservation of marine life through a piece of art on his specially-crafted shoes which displayed coral reef.

Sea-living creatures such as sea anemones and jellyfish build underwater ecosystems, which occupy about 0.1 per cent of the world's ocean area. They provide shelter to a quarter of all marine species.

The Great Barrier Reef, which is the world's largest coral reef system, is located off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is home to many endangered species but, of late, pollution, climate change and fishing activity has threatened its existence.

Scientists say it's a catastrophe waiting to happen as more than half of the Great Barrier Reef has been lost since 1985. Earlier, taking to Twitter, Sharma had shared pictures of the shoe with the message: "Playing cricket is my dream and helping make this world a better place is a cause we all need to work towards."

Sharma was in 2018 made the WWF-India Rhino Ambassador. "My love for rhinos sparked when I first heard about Sudan, the last male northern white African rhino who passed away this year thus leading to the inevitable extinction of the entire species and that broke my heart," Sharma had said when he was made the WWF-India Rhino Ambassador.

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