Former Cricket star batsman Sachin Tendulkar is stepping in to a new avenue.  

Sachin became first Brand Ambassador for South Asia of UNICEF to promote hygiene and sanitation.  Sachin is excited with his new goal said,

"Thanks for allowing me to start this wonderful second innings of my life. I'm looking forward to being an ambassador for UNICEF and serve to the best of my ability. This is an innings that is really really important to me, so I will try my best.”

He said, "I was surprised to know that 36 per cent of the world population doesn’t have access to safe and clean toilets. In today's day and age to think about this basic facility not being available to a common man, it is really difficult to digest."

He also said, "If a person defecates in the open and goes back home and that happens to be a mother, because in most of the family it is the mother who runs the house. She is the one who is cooking food for all the family members; she is the one who is feeding the baby with her own hands because that is the attachment and a bond that any mother and child would share.  And if the hands are not washed with soap, can you imagine the result. It can actually take away the child's life. For an adult's negligence, a child cannot lose its life,"

Sachin was baffled by the statistics provided by UNICEF and expressed his anguish for the deaths due to children living in unhygienic conditions.  

Thanking UNICEF Sachin assured that he will work hard for UNICEF and become part of it by bringing awareness on Sanitation and hygiene.

-SriJa