Cricketer Yuvraj Singh bats for condition of cleft in children

Himalaya Wellness Company has launched the 2024 Edition of their Flagship initiative – ‘Ek Nayi Muskaan’ – with cricketer Yuvraj Singh supporting the cause. This humanitarian initiative, known for spreading smiles and fostering well-being among children with cleft lip and palate is expanding its reach to 35+ districts in its newest edition after facilitating 1800+ free cleft lip surgeries, in partnership with Smile Train India, across the country.

On this occasion, cricket icon Yuvraj Singh pledged his support to the cause, propagating the need for greater awareness on the condition of cleft in children and how a small contribution can help bring about a big change. Yuvraj Singh shared some anecdotes and experiences from his own life, encouraging and inspiring children with cleft to lead healthy and full lives by eradicating social stigma he says, “It is a great association I guess. I am looking forward to partnership with Himalaya and Smile Train. I got pretty emotional because it reminded me of my phase of illness. For some time I will not do this event, but then I decided to be part of this journey.”

Talking about the importance of partnerships, he says, “There is no victory without partnership. So, what they are doing for the kids is amazing. These are lovely kids and looking at the smiles on their faces, it was motivating for me. It is motivating for them to see us. I want to congratulate all the doctors here, who have done these cleft surgeries. These kids are going to grow tomorrow and become the future of India. We all need to appreciate their efforts. We have to look at the good cause here.”

Yuvraj thinks that these kids too have inspired him a lot and says, “These children have equally inspired me as well I inspired them. Looking at their enthusiasm I feel that I should also bring smiles to the faces of such kids in future through my foundation.”

Yuvraj also had few words of encouragement for the Under 19 Indian men Cricket team, who lost in the final against Australia on February 11, 2024. “I am very proud of the Under 19 boys, because in the past Under 19 teams have won lots of World Cups. Australia has also got a great team over the years. I think they bowled really well from the start. They won yesterday. Under 19 Australian boys truly totally deserve to win the tournament because they were better than us on that day. It has been Australia’s year so far. They defeated us in the ODI World Cup last year. They played better cricket than us, you have to accept that and we have to work harder and get better for the next year and for the next World Cup.”