Human life is priority, sports has to take a backseat: Wasim Jaffer on India's coronavirus lockdown

Former India opener and recently-retired Ranji Trophy legend Wasim Jaffer has said that the current coronavirus-enforced nationwide lockdown in the country resembles an "emergency-like situation but believes that it's the only way to fight the fast-growing pandemic. The novel Covid-19 outbreak which has already been wreaking havoc across the world has now also left the country in a crisis with more than 650 people testing positive with 16 lives lost. As a result, India was forced to go under a 21-day lockdown from the current week with only essential civilian services functioning across the nation. In the wake of the outbreak, indiatoday.in spoke with Jaffer, who himself is following the lockdown guidelines and maintaining social distancing at his Bombay home. When further asked about how he himself is dealing with the situation mentally, Jaffer replied that he was one of "the lucky ones" and the daily wage-earners are the "worst sufferers" in this crisis. Sometimes I feel people panic 'what will happen next' but I am sure if they show a bit patience and common sense hopefully things will get better," said Jaffer. In Jaffer's view, the current situation in the country demands that everything else, including sports, takes a backseat. Daily wage workers and homeless people wait for food outside a government-run night shelter in New Delhi (Reuters) No one had expected it to spread so fast and we have examples of countries with great facilities being unable to fight back. For Jaffer though, it is a golden chance to spend some quality time with his wife and kids - something he yearns for when on cricket duty.