Lockdown glimpses: How Indian athletes are spending their downtime

The national lockdown in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic was extended for a third time, with some relaxations, on Friday and it only means that Indian athletes have to wait longer to get back to the field.

The unprecedented break has made some fidgety with the lack of competitive action but the efforts of some Indian athletes to keep busy have been commendable to watch.

While they are trying their best to keep fit, a scroll through their social media revealed some other interesting aspects to Indian athletes.

Adding to natural beauty

Having gone through the hustle and bustle of playing, travelling and competing at the professional level, it seems that for Sydney 2000 bronze medallist Karnam Malleswari and former Indian boxer Akhil Kumar, peace is the motto to follow.

And they have turned to gardening to achieve it.

A different kind of workout

Sportspersons often follow a set routine for their exercises, allocating appropriate time for their cardio and weight sessions but what does one do when you have all the time in the world with no playing time?

One only has to look as far as Leander Paes as the Indian tennis superstar has come up with a new way to keep fit!

Workout challenges have been the in-thing ever since the lockdown began and ex-Indian shooter Suma Shirur decided to give it a new twist.

Grooving to the tunes

We all know Indian table tennis star Manika Batra loves to dance and even celebrated World Dance Day a few days back but it seems like she is not the only one.

Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia and London 2012 bronze medallist Mary Kom are equally fond of letting themselves go when the music comes on, with the latter even putting together her own troupe.

‘Board’ games for Divij Sharan

You may have heard of sportspersons going back to the drawing board to figure out how they could improve on the field and Indian tennis player Divij Sharan has come out with his own variations.

We never knew boards could be used in such creative ways!

Amateur chefs

Sportspersons are some of the most disciplined people as they look to balance exercise, diet and practice to maintain peak fitness. It is not too different when cooking food because one must have the right balance of all ingredients to make the perfect dish.

Which is why Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and Indian boxer Gaurav Bidhuri have taken on the cooking endeavour.

Giving into social media trends

A study of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook could probably reveal that the social media platforms have witnessed increased activity ever since people have been forced to stay at home and it has led to plenty of trends of late.

The downtime has allowed former Indian badminton player Jwala Gutta and Indian tennis stars Somdev Devvarman and Prajnesh Gunneswaran to flaunt their online personas.

Something of everything

The doubles specialist of Indian badminton Ashwini Ponappa will certainly be a contender for the most productive athlete during the lockdown because she has been showcasing absolutely everything.

Which is why we have compiled her social media posts, from Netxflix to pets, here. Check them out!