Let's fight like Team India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday turned to Indias sporting heroes for support in the herculean battle to contain the COVID19 pandemic and more than 40 accomplished champions such as Virat Kohli and PV Sindhu responded by vowing to raise awareness and spirits amid a 21day national lockdown The athletes along with sports minister Kiren Rijiju participated in nearly an hourlong video call which started at 11amFrom Sachin Tendulkar stressing on the need to keep the vigil even after the lockdown ends on April 14 to sprinter Hima Das expressing sadness at the recent attacks on frontline warriors such as health care workers and police officers to others sharing their experience of being in a lockdown the sportspersons had lots to offer during the interactionThe Prime Minister on his part sought their support to raise awareness about the need for social distancing and personal hygiene 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 who also attended the callThe muchanticipated Indian Premier League is among the bigticket Indian events suspended till April 15 Cricketers formed a major chunk of the participating list Apart from Tendulkar BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly and Kohli others in the call included top batsman Rohit Sharma former pacer Zaheer Khan Yuvraj SinghDhoni KL miss outThe names of World Cupwinning former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and KL Rahul were in the list of participants but it is learnt that they could not attend the callOlympic silvermedallist shuttler Sindhu javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra chess wizard Viswanathan Anand sprinter Hima Das boxing star Amit Panghal wrestler Vinesh Phogat and teenage shooting sensation Manu Bhaker were among the other accomplished athletes who took part in the video call Of these 12 have been given three minutes each to speak and present their view a ministry source told PTI without revealing the names of the chosen athletesIt was later learnt that Tendulkar Ganguly MC Mary Kom and Kohli were among those who were to speak during the interaction I suggested that as much as possible I will use our way of greetingmdashsaying Namaste instead of shaking hands even after we overcome this pandemic Tendulkar said I told him that it is sad that health care workers and police have been attacked said Asian Games medallist Hima Das who is employed with Assam Police as a DSPThe PM asked us to spread awareness on social distancing and hygiene He spoke about how we need Virats Kohli fighting spirit to win this battle added veteran table tennis player Sharath Kamal World championship silverwinning shooter Abhishek Verma said the PM urged athletes to be positive and spread positivity He said appreciate and highlight the work of frontline workers Take good care of yourself and family at home He asked us to email any suggestions we have on how to handle the situation better Verma saidOlympicbound archer Deepika Kumari said the PM advised the athletes to keep their immunity levels high during a time when they are not getting enough training exposure PM Sir urged us to post videos about the awareness campaign He gave us a few pointers like Laxman Rekha Dont cross the line while maintaining social distancing Sankalp Lena Taking a pledge not to step outHe said Dhairya Rakhna dont press the panic button He also advised us to boost our immune system and stay fit by doing daily exercises she revealedUnknown oppositionTennis player Ankita Raina said the PM equated the virus to an unknown opposition He told us that athletes are stronger mentally and have the quality to adapt to different conditions and in unknown territories So he wanted us to spread the positive and encouraging message since this is also an unknown territory she saidCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates hereAlso download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever