‘Cricket as a sport has highest rate of suicide’- Robin Uthappa opens up on dark side of game

Robin Uthappa, a former Indian batter, recently talked about the mental health issues that athletes endure and disclosed the startling statistic that suicide rates are greatest in cricket worldwide.

He mentioned the strains and psychological toll the game takes on players, referees, and broadcasters in his most recent talk. During an interview, Uthappa described how the game’s competitive aspect gets difficult.

“If you consider cricket, it is both a team sport and an individual sport. Just as much as you are competing with the third opener outside of eleven, you are also battling with your opening partner. You are therefore left in a pretty dark position mentally if you continuously live in that mindset for ten to fifteen years. I don’t think many people are aware that cricket has the highest suicide rates of any sport in the world. Furthermore, very few people are aware of this truth. Not just players, though. The majority of suicides in cricket occur among players, referees, and broadcasters,

Robin Uthappa has personally struggled with depression.

In the early years of his international career, from 2009 to 2011, the former batter was subjected to harsh criticism, which caused him to experience despair and struggle with suicide thoughts during the off-season. Due to feelings of failure and shame, Uthappa spent a whole year in 2011 avoiding mirrors and avoiding facing himself. He eventually sought professional assistance, which marked a sea change in his life and gradually restored his sense of self and direction. Uthappa brought up the example of Graham Thorpe, an Englishman who, in spite of receiving several therapies, gave in to mental health issues.

“I believe that I have arrived at this point because I had experienced difficult times when I was suicidal and clinically depressed. It was consistent from 2009 to 2011, and I had to deal with it every day. Cricket was perhaps the last thing on my mind at times, and I wasn’t even thinking about it. In a Mind, Body, and Soul session, the former stated, “I was thinking about how I would survive this day and move on to the next, what’s happening to my life, and in which direction am I heading.”

“Cricket distracted me from these thoughts, but during the off-season and on days when there were no matches, it got incredibly tough. On some days, I would sit there thinking, “I’m going to run and jump off the balcony on the count of three,” but something would always stop me. At that point, I began writing these things down in my diary and began the process of simply comprehending who I am as a person. He had said, “I then began to look for outside assistance to make those changes I wanted to make in my life.”

As a member of the victorious team for the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 39-year-old played for India in 13 T20Is and 46 ODIs, scoring 249 and 934 runs, respectively. The former enjoys his role as a commentator and is regularly spotted playing in international leagues.