Coronavirus: PM Narendra Modi lauds ex-England cricketer Kevin Pietersen for his appeal to fans in Hindi

New Delhi, March 20: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (March 20) lauded former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen for the latter's message in Hindi to the fans to combat the deadly coronavirus.

A number of sports personalities have come forward in spreading the message to combat the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 2,00,000 people worldwide and killed over 9,000.

Pietersen, who is quite popular among Indian fans, is also amongst those appealing to the people to practice self-isolation and social distancing.

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Tagging Bengal cricketer Sreevats Goswami for teaching him the Hindi, Pietersen tweeted in Anglo-Hindi, "Namaste india 🙏 hum sab coronavirus ko harane mein ek saath hai , hum sab apne apne sarkar ki baat ka nirdes kare aur ghar me kuch Dino ke liye rahe , yeh samay hai hosiyaar rahene ka .App sabhi ko der sara pyaar 💕. My Hindi teacher - @shreevats1 🙏🏻"

Namaste india 🙏 hum sab corona virus ko harane mein ek saath hai , hum sab apne apne sarkar ki baat ka nirdes kare aur ghar me kuch Dino ke liye rahe , yeh samay hai hosiyaar rahene ka .App sabhi ko der sara pyaar 💕

My Hindi teacher - @shreevats1 🙏🏻

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) March 20, 2020

PM Modi took to his Twitter handle and lauded Pietersen along with India cricketers Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane for doing their bit in social-distancing and combating the deadly pandemic.

"Explosive batsmen who've seen teams through crises have something to say to us. We too will come together to fight COVID-19," PM Modi tweeted.

Explosive batsmen who've seen teams through crises have something to say to us.

We too will come together to fight COVID-19. #IndiaFightsCoronahttps://t.co/vSZCibHvzzhttps://t.co/XPXNhJ0Rlxhttps://t.co/0a7JcT4IVVhttps://t.co/wEIFA6ZehQhttps://t.co/e63GDehTOg

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 20, 2020

The English cricketer also thanked Modi for his comments and responded, "Shukriya Modi ji, aapki leadership bhi kaafi bispotak hai 🙏🏻"

Shukriya Modi ji , aapki leadership bhi kaafi bispotak hai 🙏🏻

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) March 20, 2020

Earlier on Friday, the sports fraternity has lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a Janta Curfew from 7 am to 9 pm on March 22 and sought people's cooperation for the same to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

In his address to the nation on Thursday, PM Modi made a fervent appeal to all Indians to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid getting infected by the coronavirus, saying the world has never seen a danger as grave as this. He called for a Janata Curfew, saying no citizen, barring those in essential services, should go out of their houses.