Cricket & Depression
Cricket & Depression — 1
Recently, Virat spoke about the depression and definitely, it is not a club that one would want to associate with.
In one of the Ashes series in Australia (2007?) under Flintoff captaincy, the poms were expected to win. But, they were whitewashed by the Aussies. One of the reasons given was the lackluster performance by their ace fast bowler, Steve Harmison (His first ball wide to 4th slip set the tone of the series). Later, he had admitted that he ran into a bout of depression and could not match his 2005 Ashes performance. He did mention that the expectations were too high and that had set the trigger for his downfall.
Both Kohli and Steve are joined by many in the recent past — Maxwell, Trott, Flintoff, Shaun Tait, Dale stein… Indian pacer, Praveen kumar was talking about suicidal tendencies. The list continues and it is not going to stop, anytime
If we think now with the available info, then we can categorize some of the performances of the past under this overarching syndrome/disease called Depression:
1. Richie Benaud’s brother, John Benaud gave some psychological treatment to the great windies team after they were hammered by Lilee, Thomson in 1975
2. The dismal performance of the great GR Viswanath’s in Pakistan (earl 80s)
3. Kim Hughes implosion due to the continuous onslaught by Windies in 1984–85 etc
4. IT Botham went into depression after their team was handed over 3 consecutive whitewashes — 4–0, 5–0, 5–0 in 1980s
5. Many such incidents are coming to our mind
Cricket & Depression — 2
It is a 3-level problem: Stress → Anxiety → Depression
It is called SAD syndrome and brings more sadness in the life of athletes and to his kith & kin
In general, Modern lifestyle and in particular, the focus & scope of Modern sports will lead to such condition or worsen it, if it already exists
In Modern sports, success brings-in lots of money, fame, women (applicable to some), a brush with addictives etc.
It has many positives too. It makes the players to take the level of preparation to the highest level, as much as possible. We can see the changes in the physical structure of the players, their techniques, stamina, flexibility, agility etc.
Alas, It leaves a huge gap in the realm of mental preparation. In fact, it has worsened that faculty. Most of the players get into the competitive sports at a very a young age and may not have proper education to handle the huge pressure that is part of the sport. Even, communicating their own problem is a huge challenge to them. When they fail, there is a very good possibility of walking into this zone.
What are the options available to us to help them?
1. Psychological advice & treatment
2. A separate curriculum on the lines of NCA to prepare the young players for the upcoming ordeal
3. Few other things that we can ape from west on sports psychology
4. Basketball coach Phil Jackson prepared his players and imparted coaching to handle the different fronts — financial, mental, functional, intellectual, religio-spiritual etc. Cerebral coaches like Rahul Dravid , John Wright, Kirsten can come up with that model for Indian cricket
Cricket & Depression — 3
Is that all? Do we have to look up to west, all the time? Is there a way out with the help of home-grown Indic systems? There are many methods and here are few:
1. A strong family support system like the one Sachin Tendulkar had (he had the benefit of wisdom of his dad, his brother and his coach to help him out, when the roaring success coming to him at a young age; of course, Madam Anjali had a big contribution in that space)
2. Through Karma yoga — The advice of Lord Krishna as told in the famous sloka — Karmanyeva… do the duty with an attitude of surrender and leave the results to the Lord. It may sound difficult but once we start practising, it brings an enjoyment in whatever we do
3. Through Bhakti Yoga — Participating in Bhajans will be a huge stress buster and helps to find one’s moorings in the realm of religio-spiritual space. It aids in the growth of mental faculty and helps in the mental culture
4. Through Jnana Yoga — Engage the players in the understanding the works of the great Masters of our system. For eg, the book “Kindle life by Sw.Chinmananda” will help the youth to reorient themselves in terms of goals, mission, preparation etc. Organizations like Ramakrishna mission, art of living, Chinmaya mission, Arshavidya gurukulam, SVYASA etc have huge collection and we should make of such glorious literature
5. Through Raja yoga — This will be a big game changer. One of the past physios of Indian cricket (either Andrew leipus or Andew kokinos) learnt about the overall benefits of Yoga, when they were part of Indian cricket and started implementing in Indian cricket
