Indore: Captain of the Indian cricket team has praised Glenn Maxwell and said that it is ‘remarkable’ of the Australian to admit mental health issues. Kohli recalled a phase in his own career when he too battled ‘end of the world’ thoughts, but didn’t know how to cope with it and even communicate them to those who could help him.
Getting hit by acute depression is one of the mental health problems that players face. The ones who come to mind are English cricketers like Steve Harmison, Marcus Trescothick and Graeme Fowler. However, rarely does an Indian cricketer talk about mental health issues.
“You know when you get to the international stage, every player that’s in the squad needs that communication – that ability to speak out. I think what Glenn (Maxwell) has done is remarkable,” Virat Kohli told reporters here Wednesday.
“I have gone through a phase in my career where I had felt that it was the end of the world. I just didn’t know what do and what to say to anyone, How to speak, how to communicate,” Kohli reminisced, referring to the 2014 tour of England when he had a severe slump in form.
The Indian captain also said that these issues need to be discussed and addressed at a personal level.
“To be very honest, you (journalist) guys have a job to do. We guys have a job to do and everyone is focused on what we need to do. It is very difficult to figure out what’s going on in another person’s mind,” Kohli pointed out. “So it is always better to communicate and address the issues,” he added.
Kohli, who has played a lot of cricket against Glenn Maxwell at the IPL and international level, said he can understand that things must have reached a tipping point for the Australian.
“He set the right example for cricketers all over the world. If you are not in best frame of mind, you try, try and try, but as human beings you reach a tipping point at some stage or the other and you need time,” Kohli said.
In his 11-year-international career, the only phase in which Kohli battled self doubt was the 2014 tour of England in which he failed to even get a half century and copped a lot of criticism.
“To be honest, I couldn’t have said that I am not feeling great mentally and I need to get away from the game. Because you never know how that’s taken,” the skipper spoke of how difficult it is for people to accept that this could be a serious issue.
Agencies