A group of professional footballers, all residents of the satellite township Navi Mumbai, has been sweating it out morning and evening on the back roads of Nerul to keep up their fitness and footwork, as they prepare for the upcoming season under the guidance of coach Sunil Poojari. The sessions are punctuated by the stark reminder of the times we live in — at regular intervals, the boys take breaks, run to their bags, pulling out small bottles of sanitiser to clean their hands. The Maharashtra government’s Mission Begin Again, a phased relaxation of the lockdown, has permitted individual physical exercises like cycling, jogging, running, walking in open spaces. The boys are careful to...
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