COVID-19 Situation In India ‘Quite Grim’, But Cricket Can ‘Still Bring A Lot Of Joy’: Ponting
Mumbai: As a coronavirus virus pandemic in India getting worse day by day, Delhi Capital head coach Ricky Ponting admitted that the situation outside the IPL bubble is “very serious” and made an appeal to the players to “keep talking” about it in order remain calm amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Ponting said in a video, “This IPL, perhaps more than any other, has gone beyond what is going out. We right now are probably the safest people in the country being in the bubbles that we are in,” Ponting said in a video posted on Delhi Capitals’ Twitter handle.
“Constantly, I am asking the boys at breakfast every day how everything is going on outside, how is the family? Is your family safe? Is family happy?” he adds.
“And look I think it’s a really important thing and we talk about having a big family here in the Delhi capitals. It’s really important. We are thinking about the extended family, not just us, but we’ve got to be talking about what’s happening outside because it is quite grim,” he added.
The former Australia captain admitted that it was “difficult and difficult” for the players to be away from their families while living in the same city. “Yes, it’s hard for sportsmen to stay away from their families. I can’t imagine, even if I put myself in this situation, guys that live in Chennai are actually home now, but can’t see their families. It must be incredibly difficult,” said Ponting.
“So the more we can share these experiences, the better. Those people who are not from India, we can talk to the local people about what they are doing.”
“We will just keep our fingers crossed. And hope people remain safe. That’s a big thing for me, the players are taking the best care of their families where they can from the outside. And we look after what we can do here,” Ponting added.
The head coach of the Delhi Capitals feels that the current IPL can bring great joy to the citizens of India “in the midst of a coronavirus crisis”. “Even with the country being in a situation that it is, I think cricket can still bring a lot of joy to people,” said Ponting.
“So it is important for us to be doing what we can as cricketers and as coaches and as a franchise to putting on the best show as possible to give the people something that they’d like to see,” he added.
The Covid-19 pandemic has gripped India and the country has been reporting more than 3,00,000 new cases every day. This is the most number of cases being reported since the pandemic broke out in 2020.
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