COVID-19: Ashwin uses 'Mankad' reference to ask people to stay indoors

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday used the reference of 'Mankad dismissal' to ask the citizens of the country to stay inside their homes as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ashwin used the picture from the last year's Indian Premier League (IPL) where he used the 'Mankad' mode of dismissal to send Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler back to the pavilion.

"Hahaha, somebody sent me this and told me it's exactly been 1 year since this run out happened. As the nation goes into lockdown, this is a good reminder to my citizens. Don't wander out. Stay inside, stay safe! #21DayLockdown," Ashwin tweeted.

His appeal to the citizens comes one day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to impose a 21-day lockdown in the country as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

"In view of the current situation, the nationwide total lockdown will be in place for 21 days -- three weeks," said Prime Minister Modi during his second address to the nation."It is a kind of a curfew," PM Modi had said.

The Prime Minister said: "If we are not able to manage the upcoming 21 days (of nationwide complete lockdown), we will be pushed back 21 years."

"Today India is at the stage where our actions today will decide to what extent we can bring down the impact of this disaster. This is the time to strengthen our resolve again and again," he said.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday confirmed 539 positive cases of coronavirus in the country.

The World Health Organisation had termed coronavirus as a pandemic on March 11.