Indian players anticipated and knew lockdown was imminent, says Ravi Shastri

The coronavirus pandemic has been spreading like wildfire in the past few weeks, with nearly 600,000 infected worldwide and at least 27,000 dead. Global sport has taken a massive hit, with all events being cancelled or postponed indefinitely. Team India, meanwhile, have gone into complete lockdown along with the rest of the country till April 14.

“It came as a shock but to be honest, having been on the road during the South Africa series, we guys anticipated it. We knew something was on the cards as the disease had just started spreading. When the second ODI was called off, we knew something was gonna happen and a lockdown was imminent,” Shastri told Sky Sports in a podcast with Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, and Rob Key. 

Rain washed away the first of three ODIs against South Africa at home, but the remainder of the series was cancelled due to the prevailing circumstances. Even the cash-rich IPL was deferred till April 15. Shastri is, in one sense, thankful that he and his boys could get back to home soil just in time as many nations have implemented travel restrictions. 

“I think the players knew it was coming, they sensed it in New Zealand. There were apprehensions towards the end of that tour, when flights were coming through Singapore, out of Singapore. By the time we landed [in India], I thought we got out at just the right time. There were only two cases in New Zealand at that time, that has rocketed now to 300. The day we landed, that was the first day they were screening and testing people at the airport. So [we came back] just in the nick of the time,” Shastri added.