Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 3 : Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar said he wants the nation to come together and work as a team to overcome the coronavirus crisis.
"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 in a statement.
Tendulkar's comments came soon after attending a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent sportspersons on nationwide lockdown.
The legendary batsman said that he talked to PM Modi and Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju about his personal views and experiences during this nationwide lockdown.
"I had an opportunity to speak with Narendra Modi, Kiren Rijiju and other sportspersons about our personal views and experiences of how we have been dealing with the lockdown," he said.
"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. He highlighted and reaffirmed my belief that we should not let our guard down after 14th of April, and how we manage that period will be very critical," Tendulkar added.
Tendulkar also stated that he will use the Indian way of greeting people, that is by saying namaste, instead of shaking hands even after the coronavirus crisis ends.
"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," Tendulkar said.
"We also spoke about mental fitness being as important as physical fitness during this phase, and shared what I'm doing at home to keep fit," he added.
The meeting was attended by 40 sportspersons of the country including Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Mary Kom on the ongoing situation in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This is the first time that the Prime Minister has interacted with sports personalities since he announced the 21-day lockdown on March 24 to contain the spread of the virus.
Other prominent personalities present in the meeting were PT Usha, Pullela Gopichand, Vishwanathan Anand, Hima Das, Bajrang Punia, PV Sindhu, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Cheteshwar Pujara.
( With inputs from ANI )