Kolkata: Indians are ‘more tolerant’ to deal with mental health issues than cricketers from countries like England and Australia. This is what BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said Tuesday. However, Sourav Ganguly acknowledged the challenge the strict bio-secure environments pose for the players.
Ever since the international cricket resumed, the players have been forced to stay in bio-bubbles. Their lives have been restricted to hotels and stadiums. They do not have access to people outside the bubble. It becomes extremely difficult for players to stay fresh and motivated.
“I feel we Indians are a bit more tolerant than overseas (cricketers). I’ve played with a lot of Englishmen, Australians, West Indians, they just give up on mental health,” the former India captain said. Ganguly was attending a virtual promotional event here.
“In the last six-seven months, with so much cricket going on in the bio-bubble it’s so tough. Just going from the hotel room to the ground, handle the pressure and come back to the room and then get back to the ground again, it’s an absolutely different life,” Ganguly added.
Ganguly further cited the example of the Australia cricket team who pulled out of their tour to South Africa. Cricket Australia took the decision following their defeat to India at home. Australia were slated for a three-Test tour to South Africa in March-April. However, they pulled out citing an ‘unacceptable level of health and safety risk to players, support staff and the community’.
“Look at the Australian team, they were supposed to go to South Africa for a Test series after India played there. They refused to go there… And always there’s this scare of COVID. ‘Hope it’s not me the next time’. You have to stay positive, you have to train yourself mentally. All of us have to train ourselves mentally so that the good will happen. It boils down to training,” Ganguly asserted.
The former India skipper further recalled the biggest setback in his career when he was stripped of his captaincy in 2005 and was eventually dropped. However, he returned in splendid fashion silencing all his critics.
“You just have to deal with it. It’s the mindset that you get into. Life has no guarantees, be it in sport, business or whatever. You go through ups and downs. You just have to bite the bullet. Pressure is a huge thing in everybody’s life. All of us go through different pressures,” Ganguly asserted.
“When you play your first Test, it’s the pressure of establishing yourself. You have to tell the world and make them realise you belong to this level. And when you go to that level after playing a large number of matches, it’s about keeping up the performances. A little bit of blip and it doesn’t stop people from scrutinising you. So you are always under the scanner,” he signed off.