Quarantine Edition, Part 1: Understanding COVID-19 precautions through cricket events

Almost four weeks passed since Australia hosted New Zealand at Sydney which turned out to be the last International game before almost all cricketing countries began to take measures to prevent and control the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. While everyone is made to sit at home, CricTracker brings a special edition of articles during this Quarantine time. In the first edition, we make a note of the things everyone must follow in this pandemic period through examples of cricketing events.

Here are the five most important things to be done during the current Coronavirus pandemic period:

5. Protect yourself when required:

Recent studies mentioned that face masks don’t provide high results from stopping the transmission of the virus. Hence, usage of the face masks can be limited to necessary situation. In fact, using masks all the time could well result in a shortage of the product for real needs. The Sri Lankan team during the 2017 Delhi Test can be an ideal example in the current situation. They wore masks on the 2nd day of the game only when the quality of the air worsened and began to cause issues to their players.

4. Stay indoors and don’t try to cross the line:

Citizens trying to breach the rules and stepping out without any emergency have been facing the wrath of the police. The same can be compared to the ‘mankading’ dismissal in cricket. In this case, the bowler has complete rights to take off the bails if he finds the non-striker to be crossing the popping line when the bowler is in delivery stride.

Hahaha, somebody sent me this and told me it's exactly been 1 year since this run out happened.

As the nation goes into a lockdown, this is a good reminder to my citizens.

Don't wander out. Stay inside, stay safe! #21DayLockdown pic.twitter.com/bSN1454kFt

— lets stay indoors India 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) March 25, 2020

Ravichandran Ashwin compared running out Jos Buttler with the current situation on Twitter during the first anniversary of first-ever mankading dismissal in the IPL. Even though cricketing laws state that ‘mankading’ is fair, usually such form of dismissal draws debates over sprit of cricket. However, if you step out of your house needlessly, the penal court laws could put you behind the bars.

3. Stay Clean:

Keep ourselves and the surroundings clean to stay away from germs which could cause affect to the human body. Ensure the food materials are properly washed and cooked before consuming. Don’t dare to get in contact with random things like Shahid Afridi biting a cricket ball.

2. Maintain social distancing:

Maintaining social distance while stepping outside for necessary things helps in avoiding contact with others. Keeping at least 3 meters gap is recommendable, just like how former England skipper Michael Brearley pushed all the fielders to the boundary during an ODI.

If you are a fan of Gautam Gambhir, do take inspiration for his contribution towards the pandemic relief. However, his famous field placement for MS Dhoni isn’t the one to be considered in the present state.

Gautam Gambhir loves MS Dhoni. Doesn't he? #IPL #KKRvRPS pic.twitter.com/ieuVGucZL6

— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) May 14, 2016

1. Stay strong and stay healthy:

The most important thing to be followed in this pandemic situation is not to panic. Staying away from negativity and fake information helps in a successful lockdown. If you believe you are strong enough to survive this period, you can get through it comfortably. Just like how Rohit Sharma cheered Ravindra Jadeja during the 2019 World Cup semi-final when India was in a spot of bother.