'Stay safe everyone' - Rohit Sharma shares video, urges people to take care amid Coronavirus outbreak

Indian limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma has been laying low ever since injuring his right calf muscle on the tour to New Zealand during the fifth T20I between the two sides. He was then ruled out of the remainder of the tour due to the injury. He wasn’t even part of the Team India three-match ODI series against South Africa.

Unfortunately, rain ruined the first match at Dharamshala, which was abandoned without the toss happening. But the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus from Wuhan, China led to the remaining series being postponed to a later date. Not only this series but the remainder of the cricket all-around the world has come to a standstill.

The Chappell-Hadlee series between Australia and New Zealand was also called off after playing one ODI in empty stands in the Sydney Cricket Ground. England’s tour to Sri Lanka was cancelled and even the IPL 2020 had been postponed.

The coronavirus outbreak has taken more than 6500 lives all over the world while more than 170,000 people have been affected by the virus. However, on the good side, more than 77,000 people have successfully recovered from the disease as well. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already declared COVID-19 as a pandemic and has advised people to stay indoors only.

‘I appreciate the efforts of doctors and nurses’: Rohit Sharma

In a video message, Rohit urged the people to take all precautionary steps to stay safe amid the outbreak. “I just wanted to talk about a few things. The last few weeks have been a tough time for all of us and the world has come to a standstill, which is very sad to see,” the hitman said.

He further added, “The only way we can get back to normal is by all of us coming together. How we can do that? By little smart, little proactive, knowing our surroundings, and as and when we you get any symptoms, informing your nearest medical authorities.” The government has banned mass gatherings in a place like malls, cinema halls, and stadiums and have closed such places as well.

“We all want kids to go to school, to go to malls, we all want to watch movies in theatres. I appreciate the efforts of doctors and nurses around the world who have put their lives at risk by taking care of people who have tested positive,” he said in the video shared on his Twitter account.

Here’s the video:

He is supposed to captain the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the upcoming IPL 2020, which was to begin from March 29, but has been postponed to April 15 and even then there are question marks on whether the tournament will be played or not.