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How the pandemic revealed the different and refreshing sides of our athletes

How the pandemic revealed the different and refreshing sides of our athletes
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By

Md Imtiaz

Published: 24 Dec 2020 8:37 AM GMT

This year could have been a blockbuster sporting year with multiple events lined up. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic raging its claw, the year proved out to be a dull and squib one. The coronavirus outbreak brought the entire world to a grinding halt and forced organisers to either cancel or postpone many sporting events across the globe. India's sporting action virtually came to a standstill with the conclusion of the T20 women's world cup and subsequently the Indian Super League (ISL) 2019-20 final in March. It was not until October, sports fans saw some hopes with the Indian Premier League being hosted in Dubai inside bio-bubble.

While the long, seven-month break made us miss the on-field actions of our favourite athletes, we got to saw different shades and hues of their characters which were quite refreshing from the usual magic they weave on their respective sporting fields.

Athletes lending hand in farming

To start off, many of our athletes from Haryana were seen helping their families in farming activities and harvesting. Twenty-eight-year-old Poonam Rani Malik, who played over 200 international matches for the Indian hockey team and was the forward of choice at the Rio Olympics. found herself at home in Umra for the harvest season. Add to that an acute shortage of farm labour, and Malik was seen spending hours every day with a sickle in her hand, going through golden wheat fields with her brother and her parents.

Many other Olympians find themselves in the same situation. The world’s No.1 flyweight boxer, Amit Panghal, was seen putting his explosive strength to good use, helping load trucks with the wheat produced in his family’s farm—a bit of a light break from his frenzied daily workouts. Two-time Olympian boxer Manoj Kumar, 33, was down at the fields as well. This was only the second time since 1999, when he became a part of the national team, that boxer Manoj was at his village Rajound in Kaithal, Haryana, during the harvest season.

Living on LIVE

At a time when physical interactions became a strict no-no, the virtual world came to the rescue of many. Many famous names from the sporting community went live on various social media platforms, interacting with fellow players, and fans among others. Among them is upcoming table tennis player Mudit Dani, who won bronze medal at the US Open in December last year. From his Mumbai home, Dani talked to some of India’s most successful sportspersons, both former and current, on Instagram Live to find inspiration during these difficult times through their stories of struggle and triumph. Dani hosted players like Abhinav Bindra, Leander Paes, G Sathiyan, Manika Batra, Dipika Pallikal, among others on his show.

You have the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana, and Sunil Chhetri doing similar sessions. Chhetri held five memorable live sessions with some of the best players of the country in his Instagram series of interviews called Eleven on Ten.

Voicing thoughts on social issues

During these tough times, many humanitarian crises also plagued in India and around the world. While #BoycottChineseProducts and #BoycottChina were top trending topics on Twitter, things took a racist turn when a man slid into the DMs of Indian badminton ace Jwala Gutta with a meme/joke to "boycott" her under the same movement. Sharing her ordeal on Twitter, the Arjuna Awardee wrote, “So this is where we are actually heading!!!” The 36-year-old wrote that people have resorted to calling her "China ka maal", "half Chinese" and "chinki" on social media. Impact of coronavirus has added a new name "half Corona" to the list.

Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya became the first player in the Indian Premier League to take a knee in support of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. Pandya’s gesture came during the game against Rajasthan Royals. West Indies all-rounder and Mumbai’s stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard responded by raising his right fist. After the match Pandya even tweeted a picture of himself with the caption “#BlackLivesMatter.

Vijender Singh in farmers' protest Vijender Singh in farmers' protest

India's first Olympic medal-winning boxer Vijender Singh joined the growing list of sporting icons who have thrown their weight behind the protesting farmers and threatened to return their awards to protest the contentious new agricultural laws brought by the Centre. The 2008 bronze medallist reached Singhu border and told the protesting farmers that he would return his Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna – the country’s highest sporting honour – if the government doesn’t withdraw the “black laws”.

The COVID heroes

Ace Indian sprinter Hima Das donated her one month's salary to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Das donated her salary to Assam's COVID-19 relief fund. ."Friends it's high time to stand together and support people who need us. I am contributing 1 month of my salary to Assam government in Assam Arogya Nidhi Account made to safeguard the health of people in the wake of COVID-19," she tweeted, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Ace Indian shuttler P.V. Sindhu also donated a sum of Rs 10 lakh to combat the spread of coronavirus. Sindhu donated Rs 5 lakh each to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Chief Minister Relief Funds in fight against COVID-19 pandemic. Star wrestler Bajrang Punia, who works as an OSD in Railways, donated his six months' salary to Haryana coronavirus relief fund. Former India opener and BJP lawmaker Gautam Gambhir donated Rs 50 lakh to make sure citizens are given adequate equipment to fight the coronavirus pandemic in the national capital. BCCI President and former India captain Sourav Ganguly provided free rice worth Rs 50 lakh to the needy people who have been put in government schools for safety and security amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Tennis star Sania Mirza also stepped forward to raise money to provide food and other basic necessities for the daily wage workers during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Contributing in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, top Indian sprinter Dutee Chand drove down nearly 70 km from Bhubaneswar to her village to distribute food packets.

Dutee took special passes from the authorities in the state capital and and drove to her village Chaka Goopalpur in Jajpur district of Odisha.

While her peers are confined to their homes due to coronavirus-forced lockdown, Indian women football team's midfielder Indumathi Kathiresan was busy in police uniforms on the streets of Chennai, asking people to follow government guidelines to fight the pandemic. Wearing the traditional ‘khaki’ uniform of the Tamil Nadu Police, along with a surgical mask over her face and a pair of gloves pulled over her hands for protection, Indumathi was barely recognisable to those stopped by her for checking at Anna Nagar in Chennai.

Former India kabaddi captain Ajay Thakur, who is a DSP with the Himachal Pradesh police, was on the frontlines patrolling localities in Bilaspur and urging citizens to stay at home. The Padma Shri and Arjuna Awardee shared posts of himself on duty on his Instagram account and fans were quick to appreciate his service. U Mumba and Indian Kabaddi star Sandeep Narwal also took to Instagram and addressed the youngsters of the country. In a video, Narwal asked the youth of the country to resist the urge of stepping outside their houses to stop the spread of COVID-19 and urged them to practice yoga and other exercises at home itself.

Kabaddi star Ajay Thakur takes up police duty in Himachal Pradesh during Covid-19 lockdown Kabaddi star Ajay Thakur takes up police duty in Himachal Pradesh during Covid-19 lockdown

Social media sensations

Many athletes used the lockdown to level-up their social media games sharing content regularly which were humorous and quick-witted. Indian leg-spin bowler Yuzvendra Chahal is one of the many cricketers who stayed highly active over social media through a popular Chinese app Tik Tok before it was banned. While Yuzvendra Chahal has grabbed the headlines through his antics via the app and Instagram.

Being ranked as the ninth-best T20 batter in the world might be enough for some, but not Jemimah Rodrigues. Her 'work hard and play hard' attitude spills over into the world of social media, where fun, dancing and smiles are the norm and where a new hashtag has been born: #jeMEMEah. Her light-hearted Twitter posts and Instagram takeovers caught the attention of cricket fans, and after she won the award for the 'Strongest Game On Social Media' from Cricbuzz she shared 'live' footage of the presentation ceremony...

Also read: Wasim Jaffer 2.0 - A demigod turned memegod

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