Rajya Sabha Chairman XI vs Lok Sabha Speaker XI: Parliamentarians face off at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium; Watch

In a display of unity and commitment to public welfare, members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha participated in a friendly 20-over cricket match at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in Delhi on Sunday, featuring teams led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. The event, called the "TB Mukt Bharat Awareness Cricket Match," aims to raise awareness about tuberculosis. Anurag Singh Thakur is captain of the Lok Sabha Speaker XI, while Kiren Rijiju leads the Rajya Sabha Chairman XI.

Ahead of the match, BJP MP Anurag Thakur said, "PM Modi has given the goal of making India TB free by 2025, the global goal is 2030. If you see from 2015 till date, there has been 38% drop in TB-related deaths in India. There has been an 18% drop in new cases. This number is around 8% globally.

#WATCH | Delhi: A friendly cricket match of Parliamentarians - Rajya Sabha Chairman XI vs Lok Sabha Speaker XI is being played today at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Visuals of the toss. pic.twitter.com/yHTHX9Bh7j

— ANI (@ANI) December 15, 2024

He futher added, "This means, India is doinf better than the rest of the world. But India is the most populated country. There is a treatment for it. Govt provides free medicines and provides Rs 1000 for it. The cases are tracked as well."

#WATCH | BJP MP Anurag Thakur says, "PM Modi has given the goal of making India TB free by 2025, the global goal is 2030. If you see from 2015 till date, there has been 38% drop in TB-related deaths in India. There has been an 18% drop in new cases. This number is around 8%… pic.twitter.com/DiZ0cVtGYq

— ANI (@ANI) December 15, 2024

BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy expressed his support for the initiative, describing it as a distinctive effort by Members of Parliament aimed at achieving a TB-free India. He said, This is a unique effort by MPs towards TB-free India. The Captain of our team is Anurag Thakur. He had been the Sports Minister. This is another face of MPs. Cricket is the most interesting sport of the world…Rajya Sabha team is being led by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.”

While, former India captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin said, "it is a matter of joy that you get to meet everyone like this and MPs get an outing like this.The country should indeed by TB-free...It should be eradicated at the earliest...I am happy that I am participating today."

#WATCH | Delhi: On the friendly cricket match of Parliamentarians - Rajya Sabha Chairman XI vs Lok Sabha Speaker XI, former captain of Indian cricket team & Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin says, "...It is a matter of joy that you get to meet everyone like this and MPs get an… pic.twitter.com/LFjoOPmXsi

— ANI (@ANI) December 15, 2024

Teams for today's match:

Lok Sabha Speaker XI: Anurag Singh Thakur (C), Gurmeet Singh Hire, Manoj Tiwari, Deepender Singh Hooda, K. Ram Mohan Naidu, Tejasvi Surya, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Chandrashekhar Ravan, Lavu Sri Krishna, Dushyant Singh, Arun Govil, Murlidhar Mohol, Rajesh Verma, Omprakash Raje Nimbalkar, Devesh Shakya, Pushpendra Saroj, Sagar Ishwar Khandare, Nishikant Dubey, Appala Naidu Kalisetti.

Rajya Sabha Chairman XI: Kiren Rijiju (C), Kamlesh Paswan, Mohammed Azharuddin, Imran Pratapgarhi, Raghav Chadha, Derek O'Brien, Neeraj Dangi, C.M. Ramesh, Saumitra Khan, K. Sudhakar, Anil Kumar Yadav, Vijay Kumar Dubey, Surendra Singh Nagar, Neeraj Shekhar, Ashok Mittal, Amarpal Maurya, Durai Vaiko, Tokhan Sahu, Ravi Kishan.

Meanwhile, the winter session of Parliament commenced on November 25, with both Houses witnessing early adjournments due to disruptions. The session is set to continue until December 20.