Sachin Tendulkar donates 10 million rupees to help India battle COVID-19 surge

India batting great Sachin Tendulkar has donated 10 million rupees (approximately $135,000) to a fundraising campaign that is helping hospitals treating COVID-19 patients procure oxygen concentrators.

Mission Oxygen, which describes itself as a non-for-profit, charitable initiative, said it has placed an order for 1,365 concentrators from China and thanked Tendulkar for his donation.

"His donation of rupees 1 crore to Mission Oxygen in its endeavour to procure and provide life-saving oxygen concentrators to hospitals across the nation in this time of need is incredibly heart-warming," they said in a statement.

The campaign has collected $2.26 million so far from over 15,000 supporters.

Tendulkar, who contracted COVID-19 and spent time in hospital before his release earlier this month, said in a tweet that providing oxygen was the "need of the hour" amid a devastating second wave in the country.

On Thursday, India's total cases passed 18 million as it reported 379,257 new infections and 3,645 new deaths -- the highest number of fatalities in a single day since the start of the pandemic.