Sourav Ganguly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president, former captain Sachin Tendulkar and incumbent Virat Kohli joined forces with Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a video conference on Friday morning amid a nationwide lockdown to discuss and combat the situation arising out of the coronavirus pandemic.

While Sourav stressed on the need to take adequate measures to help the poor in this hour of crisis, Sachin requested the Prime Minister to carefully manage the period once the lockdown ends on April 14.

A total of 49 sportspersons across disciplines joined Modi to share their thoughts on how to control the spread and make people more aware during an hour-long session. Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju also participated and around 12 athletes were given an opportunity to speak.

Besides Sachin, Sourav and Virat, others cricketers who participated include World Cup-winning former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohammed Shami.

Olympic silver-medallist shuttler PV Sindhu, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, sprinter Hima Das, boxing stars MC Mary Kom and Amit Panghal, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, former football captain Bhaichung Bhutia and teenage shooting sensation Manu Bhaker were among the other athletes who joined the video-conference.

Those missing from the video conference included national football captain Sunil Chhetri and India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra.

The Prime Minister requested all concerned to spread the message of social distancing to maintain immunity and staying indoors for the safety of everyone concerned through fervent appeals in the social media.

“The message was, stay bonded as a nation,” an athlete said.

Modi told the gathering that he was confident that India would be rejuvenated by the inspiration its sportsmen can provide.

“Your suggestions will be taken note of. We are fighting this pandemic like Team India. I am confident that India will be rejuvenated by the inspiration provided by you,” Modi said.

Modi drew reference from the Tokyo Olympics postponement and the fact that IPL has also been suspended till April 15.

After the Prime Minister’s introductory speech, Sourav was given the opportunity to present his views. Much like his batting position in Test matches, Sachin spoke fourth.

According to a source, Sourav highlighted the need to help the poor with food and other essentials. “Please see that people get enough to eat during these taxing times. I have been doing my bit and have also requested all to help the needy,” Sourav told the Prime Minister.

The BCCI president has already donated Rs 50 lakh worth of rice and made other contributions to various social organisations.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine. We will emerge stronger from these circumstances,” is the message Sourav wanted everyone to spread.

Sachin spoke from personal experience and how the elderly should be protected during these testing times.

“I had an opportunity to speak with Shri Modiji, Shri Rijijuji and other sportspersons about our personal views and experiences of how we have been dealing with the lockdown.

“Taking care of our elders who are most vulnerable and using this time to hear from them, their stories and experiences was something the Prime Minister resonated with.

“He highlighted and reaffirmed my belief that we should not let our guard down after the 14th of April and how we manage that period will be very critical,” Sachin said in a WhatsApp message to The Telegraph.

“I also suggested that as much as possible, I will use our way of greeting — saying Namaste instead of shaking hands, even after we overcome this pandemic.”

Sachin also spoke about the importance of mental fitness and how it can help the nation overcome the crisis.

“We also spoke about mental fitness being as important as physical fitness during this phase and shared what I’m doing at home to keep fit.

“This is the time for our entire nation to come together and keep each other motivated. Like team spirit wins us games in sports, our nation should work as one team to overcome this,” the Master remarked.

An athlete said that Modi ended the video conference by making a reference to Virat’s “fighting spirit” in the bid to “win this battle”.