Sportspersons asked to join fight
New Delhi, April 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday discussed the growing threat of the Covid-19 pandemic with India’s top sportspersons, including cricket icon Virat Kohli and star shuttler P. V. Sindhu, urging them to support awareness campaigns on social distancing.
More than 40 athletes, along with sports minister Kiren Rijiju, participated in nearly an hourlong video call which started at 11 am. The country is in a 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.
The Prime Minister sought the athletes’ support to raise awareness about the need for social distancing and personal hygiene at a time when the total number of Covid19 positive cases in India has crossed 2,000.
“Your suggestions will be taken note of. We are fighting this pandemic like Team India. I am confident that India will be rejuvenated by the inspiration provided by you,” the Prime Minister can be seen telling athletes in a clip shared by shuttler B. Sai Praneeth, a world championship bronzemedallist, who also attended the call.
Cricketers formed a major chunk of the participating list. Apart from Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Kohli, others in the call included top batsman Rohit Sharma, former pacer Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh.
Shuttler Sindhu, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, hockey captain Rani Rampal, chess wizard Viswanathan Anand, sprinter Hima Das, boxers Mary Kom and Amit Panghal, wrestler Vinesh Phogat and teenage shooting sensation Manu Bhaker were among the other accomplished athletes who took part in the video call.
Tendulkar said managing the period after April 14 would be crucial to how India fares in its battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. “He (PM Modi) highlighted and reaffirmed my belief that we should not let our guard down after the 14th of April, & how we manage that period will be very critical,” Tendulkar said in a statement after the interaction.
Like everyone else, Tendulkar is also practising social distancing and said he now folds his hands to say ‘Namaste’ instead of shaking hands.
“I also suggested that as much as possible, I will use our way of greeting saying ‘Namaste’ instead of shaking hands, even after we overcome this pandemic,” he said.
Modi also spoke about this being the time when elderly people, who are more vulnerable, should be taken care of. “Taking care of our elders who are most vulnerable and using this time to hear from them, their stories and experiences was something the Prime Minister resonated with,” Tendulkar said.
The mental aspect of a lockdown was also discussed. “This is the time for our entire nation to come together and keep each other motivated. Like team spirit wins us games in sports, our nation should work as one team to overcome this,” Tendulkar said. — PTI
He (PM Modi) highlighted and reaffirmed my belief that we should not let our guard down after the 14th of April, & how we manage that period will be very critical.
— SACHIN TENDULKAR
Cricket icon, after the call with Prime Minister Modi