Mumbai: World and Olympic 100m and 200m champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica will be in India to promote the Road Safety World Series — the T20 cricket event which will be played between legends of India, Australia, South Africa, West Indies and Sri Lanka in February next year.

Blake, who is one of the favourites to win gold in 100m and 200m events at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, will arrive in India during the first week of December to undertake various activities to create awareness towards road safety in the country where around 1,50,000 people are killed and more than 4,50,000 people are critically injured in road accidents every year.

Also read: Sachin Tendulkar to play in Road Safety World Series

Blake was shocked when he heard that one person dies every four minutes in India and out of every hundred people dying in the world, 30 are Indians.

Talking about his visit to India and the initiative to create awareness towards road safety through sports, an excited Blake said, “I have heard a lot about India and I always wanted to visit this wonderful country. I should thank the Road Safety World Series team for making this happen.

"I am aware about the number of deaths due to road accidents in India, I am also aware of cricket’s popularity in the country and how the fans idolise cricketers here. The Road Safety World Series is such a wonderful initiative — integrating sports with a noble cause to save human lives. I was blown away the moment I heard about it! Hats off to the organisers for coming up with such a concept.”

“Given India’s love for cricket, I am sure that the organizers will be able to achieve what they intend to through this series. Now that I am associated with this cause, I will do my best to spread the word, not only in India, but across the globe as road safety is a serious concern worldwide.

"I am happy to be associated with this cause, because, it also gives me an opportunity to give something back to the society. Not many might know, but I also like cricket and I am a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar. I will make sure that I get to meet him and take his autograph during my stay,” said Blake who is also the Road Safety Champion for the West Indies Legends team.

Every nation featuring in the Road Safety World Series will have a Road Safety Champion who will work relentlessly to promote the cause of road safety in and around the world.

The Road Safety World Series is not just a sporting event but a movement to save human lives by creating awareness and changing people’s outlook towards road safety.

The Series will feature batting legends Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara among a host of other great cricketers like Brett Lee, Virender Sehwag, Muttiah Muralitharan. Tendulkar is also the brand ambassador of the series whereas Sunil Gavaskar is the commissioner of the series. In the first edition, the series will be played in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune.