For India I Batted At No.4 And For COVID-19 Fight Happy To Bat At Same Position: Tendulkar To PM Modi

The sports personalities have been already doing their bit as they have not only donated funds to help fight the pandemic, but have also spread awareness messages on their social media platforms.

PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday interacted with  eminent sports personalities that included the likes of BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, badminton world champion P.V. Sindhu and chess legend Viswanathan Anand as the country is in a war footing mode to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Prime Minister had an interaction with not just cricketers, but also sports personalities from other fields. The basic idea was to ensure that they can then go ahead and pass on the message of staying safe and staying indoors to the masses. The PM acknowledged the contribution the sportspersons have made in spreading awareness and said that  this is a battle that the country has to fight together and no better way than to get sports personalities to reach out to their fans and followers further," ABP News had this exclusive input from a source tracking the developments. "Today my batting order is number 4 , For Team India I batted at Number 4 and against Corona I am happy to bat at Number 4" - Sachin Tendulkar had this to say to PM Narendra Modi. Sources added, Sachin Tendulkar told PM that people shouldn't take things casually even after the lockdown and should be serious about it. The BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told the PM that police is doing good job and we will overcome the battle . Both Sachin and Sourav assured Narendra Modi that they will do anything for the country . Narendra Modi have also praised all the athletes he spoke to for their contribution so far.

 The sports personalities have been already doing their bit as they have not only donated funds to help fight the pandemic, but have also spread awareness messages on their social media platforms.

In fact, Kohli recently came out with a video where he requested everyone to stay indoors and help stop the spread of the coronavirus. "Hello, I am Virat Kohli. Today I am speaking to you not as an India player, but as a citizen of the country. What I have seen in the last few days -- people moving in groups, not abiding by curfew rules, not following lockdown guidelines -- it shows that we are taking the fight very lightly. But this fight is not as easy as it looks or feels. "I wish to request everyone to please maintain social distancing and follow it. Also we should follow the directives given by the government and just for once think how you would feel if due to your negligence someone in your family gets affected by the virus. Please follow the experts as they are working very hard. It will only be successful when we follow our duties rather than going out in groups and breaking rules. This for me is an act against the country's well-being. So now, I along with all of you wish to see things improve and please follow the directives of the government. Jai Hind!" A list of 49 names from all prominent sports were compiled for the interaction with PM Modi. They are: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Cricket), Virat Kohli (Cricket), Rohit Sharma (Cricket), Mamatha Poojary (Kabaddi), Sourav Ganguly (Cricket), Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket), Virender Sehwag (Cricket), Mohd Shami (Cricket), KL Rahul (Cricket), Cheteshwar Pujara (Cricket), Yuvraj Singh (Cricket), Zaheer Khan (Cricket), PT Usha (Athletics), Yogeshwar Dutt (Wrestling), Bajrang Punia (Wrestling), Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling), PV Sindhu (Badminton), Mary Kom (Boxing), Hima Das (Athletics), Viswanathan Anand (Chess), Rani Rampal (Hockey), Deepika Kumari (Archery), Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting), Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Sharad Kumar (Para Athletics), Apurvi Chandela (Shooting), Manu Bhaker (Shooting), Tarundeep Rai (Archery), Bhaichung Bhutia (Football), Sardara Singh (Hockey)Achanta Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis), Amit Panghal (Boxing), Gagan Narang (Shooting), Anju Bobby George (Athletics), Rohan Bopanna (Tennis), Ankita Raina (Tennis), Sai Praneeth (Badminton), Srihari Natraj (Swimming), Harmeet Desai (Table Tennis), Abhishek Verma (Shooting), Avinash Sable (Athletics), KT Irfan (Athletics), Lovlina Boroghain (Boxing), Simranjeet Kaur (Boxing), Jeremy (Weightlifting), Bhavani Devi (Fencing), Pramod Bhagat (Para Badminton).