Indian captain Virat Kohli has spoken about the importance of mental-health breaks in sports and heaped praise on Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who took an indefinite break from the game due to mental health issues.
The Indian skipper believes it is quite brave of Maxwell to speak out about mental health and that his sabbatical sets a correct example for all other cricketers to focus on such issues.
“I think what Glenn has done is remarkable. It will set the right example for cricketers all over the world that if you’re not in the best frame of mind, you try, you try and try. I think, as human beings, you reach a tipping point at some stage you need some time away from the game,” Virat Kohli said on the eve of the first Test against Bangladesh in Indore.
"I think what Glenn has done is remarkable and will set an example for cricketers all over the world" - Captain @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/YLHtigo0kD
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 13, 2019
“Not to say that you give up but just to gain more clarity and you tend to take more space, which I think is quite acceptable and quite a nice thing to do.
“I think these things should be respected and not taken in a negative way at all because this is happening at a human level, it’s got nothing to do with what you do on the field or not. Just not having the capacity to deal with things, which I think can happen to anyone so I think it should be taken in a very positive way.”
India’s left-arm spinner Maninder Singh, Australian cricketers Shaun Tait and Nic Maddison, England batsman Jonathan Trott and former England captain Sarah Taylor are some of the other cricketers who have battled mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
