Human Lives Are More Important Than Any Sport, Says Cheteshwar Pujara

The proliferation of the global pandemic that is the novel coronavirus has sent alarm bells ringing around the world. The virus which originated from the Wuhan city of China late last year has claimed a plethora of lives besides infecting more than 1 million people globally.

With social distancing the only solution to flatten the steadily increasing curve, the entire world has been put under lockdown. In such trying times, patience is the biggest virtue that one has to practice.

And, who better than the modern-day Indian cricket wall Cheteshwar Pujara to seek as inspiration for practicing restraint. Pujara is an epitome of resilience and patience and he thinks that such qualities of him are coming in handy during this arduous phase.

“During the lockdown, the most important thing is to make sure that you are at home. Everyone should understand the danger and stay indoors, though it can be frustrating. But this is like a battle that we are fighting,” Cheteshwar Pujara was quoted as saying by Times of India.

Pujara, who was one of the many sportsmen who had a video interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi reckoned that the qualities that he displays on the field are helping him during the ordeal that the world is going through right now.

He added: “Those qualities of patience and discipline do come in handy. The qualities I have as a cricketer are helping me deal with this period effectively. I have that mental strength. So it does help,”

Also Read: I Was Challenged Mentally A Lot: Sanju Samson

Cheteshwar Pujara not thinking about the game currently

Pujara, of-course remains a student of this beautiful game but at this point in time cricket is not something that is on his mind. He thinks that the kind of ordeal that the world is experiencing right now, it is imperative for everyone to come together to fight this deadly virus rather than him obsessing over the game.

“At times, you need to stay away from the game. Fortunately, this has come at the end of the season. Once the Ranji Trophy ended, I was supposed to take a break for a week or two. This has been longer than that. We don’t know when the game will restart. So we are in a tough situation. But if we look at the problems other people are facing, then we can’t really think about the game. The virus is so dangerous that we have to fight this together. It is like a war. We have to make sure everything becomes normal first. And then we can think about the game,” Pujara said.

Pujara does not play the Indian Premier League but he was scheduled to take part in the English county season. In the wake of the ongoing situation, the possibilities of that happening remain weak but that isn’t bothering the Indian No.3 one bit as he reckons that human lives are much more important than sports right now.

Also Read: Sunil Gavaskar’s Son Explains The Reason Behind A Donation In Odd Figure

He added: “Something like this can’t be controlled. It has happened for the first time in our lives and I hope it won’t happen again. We can’t think about the game right now. I am sure things will be under control in a few months’ time. Then, we can think about county cricket and everything else. Every major sporting event has been affected. Even if the county season doesn’t happen, one shouldn’t worry much because human lives are more important than any sport,”

Meanwhile, India is currently under a 21-day lockdown and with the fatalities steadily increasing, it might go under a further isolation phase as the country aims to flatten the curve.