Sachin Tendulkar will not celebrate his 47th birthday on Friday due to the ongoing crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and he wants to stand in solidarity with all the corona warriors who are fighting the deadly virus at the forefront.

“The medical staff are playing on the front foot and they are the heroes of the country today. He wants to bat for them now,” a spokesperson from Team Tendulkar was quoted as saying by the Mumbai Mirror.

“When he was batting, no one wanted him to get out, now he will not get out on his birthday. He is also requesting everyone not to get out,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, after donating a reported sum of Rs 50 lakh to the PM-CARES Fund to help India in its fight against COVID-19, Tendulkar also pledged to help 5000 people with their ration for a month with the help of an NGO named Apnalaya as the country is in the middle of a lockdown in an attempt to beat the spread of the virus

Tendulkar was also a part of the 40 elite sportspersons with whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a video conference to raise awareness about the situation created by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic which has already killed more than 600 people and affected over 21 thousand people.

Other than, the cricket legend has been a vocal advocate of social distancing and has constantly urged people to follow the lockdown guidelines issued by the government.

In a video posted on his Twitter handle, Tendulkar said that people need to understand that the present situation is not one like holidays where they can roam and meet other people.

“Namaste, governments and health experts across the world have requested us to stay at home and not venture out. Yet, I hear about people not taking it seriously…But this is really harmful for the nation right now. We shouldn’t mistake this lockdown for a holiday,” the batting great said in his video.

“The least we can do to honour these doctors, nurses and others fighting this war, is to follow their instructions.

“My family and I have not met our friends from the last 10 days and we will continue to do so for the next 21 days as well…Save yourselves, the community, our country and the whole world from this virus,” he added.

नमस्ते

हमारी सरकार ने हम सभी से ये विनती की है कि अगले २१ दिनों तक हम सब अपने घरों से ना निकलें। फिर भी बहुत लोग इस निर्देश का पालन नहीं कर रहे हैं। इस मुश्किल समय में हम सबका ये कर्तव्य है कि हम घरों में रहें और यह समय अपने परिवार के साथ बिताएं और #CoronaVirus का खात्मा करें। pic.twitter.com/fJgLk3ZiPj

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) March 25, 2020