Amid a sharp rise in the cases of people getting infected by the novel virus, the global village is taking all necessary steps to prevent the spread of this contagious viral disease. The outspread of the virus has taken a toll on the sporting industry with various major international and domestic tournaments getting postponed or cancelled. International cricket too has awakened to the seriousness of this health hazard with the ICC rescheduling many ongoing bilateral series.
The India- South Africa series has also been rescheduled with the 2nd and 3rd ODI called off as a preventive measure to keep the cricketers safe from getting infected by the virus. The BCCI took a bold decision to postpone its flagship T20 league, Indian Premier League, to April 15.
With the BCCI coming out with a detailed advisory which entails certain safety measures to combat the deadly COVID19, the Indian cricketer are following the same to the hilt as many of them including KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya were seen wearing protective masks on touchdown at the Lucknow Airport ahead of their second ODI against South Africa, which later got cancelled due to coronavirus fears.
While pictures of the players wearing masks flooded internet, skipper Yuzvendra Chahal himself uploaded one on his Twitter account. He was seen wearing a mask as a precautionary measure for coronavirus, which has been declared as a pandemic by World Health Organisation (WHO).
"Let's stay strong and fight the COVID19 outbreak by taking all precautionary measures. Stay safe, be vigilant and most importantly remember, prevention is better than cure. Please take care everyone," tweeted Kohli on Saturday.
India has recorded more than 80 positive cases so far with the global infected count standing at over 100,000. The death toll because of the virus has gone beyond 5,000 internationally.
Indian cricket team skipper Virat Kohli has called on the world community to "stay safe and vigilant" against the novel virus.