Babar Azam sends prayers to people of India amid coronavirus crisis

• Babar Azam sends prayers to people of India amid coronavirus crisis.
• The skipper says it's time to show solidarity and pray together. 
• Asks people to strictly follow coronavirus protocols to keep the virus at bay.

Pakistan cricket captain Babar Azam Monday sent thoughts and prayers to the people of India as the country currently struggles with a drastic increase in coronavirus infections resulting in a dearth of oxygen.

Taking to Twitter, the skipper wrote: "Prayers with the people of India in these catastrophic times. It's time to show solidarity and pray together. I also request all the people out there to strictly follow SOPs, as it's for our safety only. Together we can do it. #StayStrong"

Azam also shared a picture of Dubai's Burj Khalifa which recently lit up with the phrase "Stay Strong India."

Earlier in the day, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar had also shown solidarity with the people of India and appealed to the cricket boards of Pakistan and India to not hold the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL) due to the worsening coronavirus situation in the region.

"BCCI & PCB should both rethink if this is a good time to continue the IPL or restart the PSL. Things are tough," tweeted Shoaib along with a snippet of his YouTube vlog.

The former Pakistan international cricketer also deplored that India is in crisis but there was no way Pakistanis could send zakat (alms) to India.

“How do we send money to India? I cannot understand how we send money to India,” said Akhtar.

The world’s fastest bowler strongly appealed to everyone to help people as much as they can as it is a matter of human lives.

“This is not a problem of Hindu and Muslim, Christian and Sikh. It's all our problem” said the former cricketer-turned-analyst.

India's coronavirus crisis intensifies

In the past 24 hours India recorded 352,991 infections, with overcrowded hospitals in Delhi and elsewhere turning away patients after running out of supplies of medical oxygen and beds.

With a population of 1.3 billion, India has a tally of 17.31 million infections and 195,123 deaths, after 2,812 deaths overnight, health ministry data showed. But health experts say the death count is probably far higher.