Ravi Shastri also said the 'forced break' was welcome as that will help the Indian players to overcome the fatigue. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
New Delhi:
Ravi Shastri, the coach of the Indian cricket team, is acknowledged as one of the most wittiest commentators on the airwaves. Before taking up the position of Indian cricket team head coach, Ravi Shastri's commentary stint was punctuated with his iconic 'tracer bullet' comment for every boundary that a batsmen hit. Now, using his trademark 'tracer buller' cliche, Shastri has taken to Twitter to urge citizens to stay at home and avoid the coronavirus pandemic. "Stay indoors people. Crucial phase this. Only thing flying around the world like a tracer bullet is this bloody Corona (COVID-19). Stay in before the bugger gets you," Shastri wrote on his Twitter handle.
Stay indoors people. Crucial phase this. Only thing flying around the world like a tracer bullet is this bloody Corona (COVID-19). Stay in before the bugger gets you #IndiaFightsCorona #Covid19India ðŸ™Â🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/RmfNzkOu7f
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) March 29, 2020
The coronavirus has also brought sport to a standstill after leading to cancellation and postponement of events, including the Tokyo Olympics and European Football Championships. And it was no different with cricket. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world, claiming over 30000 lives so far while infecting more than 6.5 lakh people.
Ravi Shastri's commentary stint was punctuated with his iconic 'tracer bullet' comment for every boundary that a batsmen hit. (Image credit: Getty Images)
Speaking in a Sky Sports podcast, India cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri said the 'forced break' was welcome as that will help the Indian players to overcome the fatigue. "(This rest) cannot be a bad thing because towards the end of the New Zealand tour, you could see some cracks coming up when it came to mental fatigue, physical fitness and injuries. The amount of cricket we have played over the last ten months, that was beginning to take its toll. Guys like me, and some other guys from the support staff, we left India on May 23 for the World Cup in England. Since then we have been at home for 10 or 11 days. There are certain players who played all three formats, so you can imagine the toll it has taken on them, especially being on the field, adjusting from T20s to Test match cricket and all the travel that goes with that because we travelled quite a lot," Shastri said.
Following the end of the Dharamshala ODI, there were doubts over whether the games in Lucknow and Kolkata on March 15 and March 18 would go ahead as planned due to the coronavirus pandemic surging across the world. Intial reports suggested that the games in Lucknow and Kolkata would be played behind closed doors and with no spectators. However, as the days progressed, it became clear that the series would be postponed and the announcement was made on March 14 with both India and South Africa players already arriving in Lucknow.
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"It came as a shock but to be honest, having been on the road during the South Africa series, we guys anticipated it. It came as a shock but to be honest, having been on the road during the South Africa series, we guys anticipated it. We knew something was on the cards as the disease had just started spreading. When the second ODI was called off, we knew something was gonna happen and a lockdown was imminent. By the time we landed (in India), I thought we got out at just the right time. There were only two cases in New Zealand at that time, that has rocketed now to 300. The day we landed, that was the first day they were screening and testing people at the airport. So (we came back) just in the nick of time," Shastri said.
