Cricketers Taking Sabbatical from Cricket due to Mental Health Issues

Aryaman Birla, who was part of Rajasthan Royals till the last IPL season, has said that he is taking an indefinite break from cricket owing 'to severe anxiety related to the sport'. He added that he persevered to keep playing till now but the time has come to put his mental health above everything else. [News]

"I've felt trapped. I've pushed myself through all the distress so far, but now I feel the need to put my mental health and wellbeing above all else."

"And so, I've decided to take an undefined sabbatical from cricket. This lovely sport is an integral part of my life and I hope to be back on the field when the time is right."

Aryaman's sabbatical comes two months after Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell stepped away from cricket citing mental health issues. Since then, many cricketers have opened up about their struggles, taking time away from the game to deal with their issues.

Australia's Nic Maddinson and Will Pucovski had also announced breaks from international cricket to deal with their mental issues and got support from Cricket Australia.

This trend shows the other side of Cricket which media does not tell about. Professional competitive sports takes huge toll on the mental health of players. This is one reason why I am against professional sports and wish media and society should also think about its wrong side instead of just focusing on the positives and creating an illusion where sports and sportspersons are glamorized; all because sports is a big business.

West Indies batsman suspended for ball-tampering

As a matter of principle, I am against professional competitive sports. Sports for recreation and promoting fitness is good; but the moment sports become competitive and commercial (professional), all its benefits vanish and its harmful effects start pouring in. Sportspersons take drugs and other illegal performance enhancement drugs, or resort to unfair means to defeat their competitors.

Recently, West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran has been handed a four-match suspension on charges of ball-tampering. The punishment was given to him after video footage showed him scratching the surface of the ball with his thumbnail in the game which West Indies won by five wickets at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium on Monday. Pooran admitted the offence on Tuesday and accepted the sanction. (Source of news)

I hope that one day, society will be able to recognize harmful effect of professional sports and would discourage more people from getting into it.

Australian Boxer Dies after a Training Session

In a tragic turn of events, Australian middleweight boxer Dwight Ritchie collapsed and died after taking a body shot while training with Michael Zerefa on Saturday, 9th of November 2019.

Dwight Ritchie died at the age of only 27 years. He was a father of 3 children.

Ritchie is the fourth boxer in 2019 to have died in the ring. Less than a month ago, an American boxer Patrick Day died after losing to Charles Conwell in Chicago due to brain injury.

Argentina’s Hugo Santillan died in July following a bout in San Nicolas while two days prior to his death, Russian boxer Maxim Dadashev also passed away due to injuries he sustained during a bout.

You can read more about it here, or at other sources: https://www.india.com/sports/australian-boxer-dwight-ritchie-dies-while-sparring-3837552/

I have a belief that commercial competitive sports does more harm to the world than benefit. I support sports for the overall health and fitness benefits but the competitive sports where young folks are trained mercilessly from childhood just to play and win against others, it reminds me of animal kingdom rather than a thing of the civilized world.

Boxing is one of the most brutal games and I am completely against it. I hope at some point of time in our civilized history, we shall stop hurting each other in the name of sports. 

Farokh Engineer slams the BCCI selection committee

Former India international Farokh Engineer has slammed the current BCCI selection committee questioning their credentials and stature. 

“We have got a Mickey Mouse selection committee,” Engineer told The Times of India. “But how are the selectors qualified? Between them, have they played about 10-12 Test matches. I didn’t even know one of the selectors during the World Cup and I asked him ‘who the hell he was’, because he was wearing the India blazer and he said he was one of the selectors. All they were doing was getting Anushka Sharma (Kohli’s wife) cups of tea.”

https://www.india.com/sports/all-they-were-doing-was-getting-anushka-sharma-cups-of-tea-at-world-cup-farokh-engineer-slams-selectors-3826047/

This comment has been taken on Twitter where users are trolling Anushka Sharma using #AnushkaSharma hash tag. On a serious tone too, there are many reasons why fans have right to object.

Anushka Sharma distracts our cricketers by bonding with captain during official foreign tours. She should have Kohli at home during non-cricket days, but no need to chase him during official tours. In all group photos, often posted by Virat Kohli himself, Captain Kolhi is seen with wife Anushka Sharma while rest of the team are within themselves. It is insensitive and abuse of power. Captain is still part of the team, not some dictator that he would get special privilege to sport his wife while rest of the team live alone.

If you follow the twitter feed as well as trending news about Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma would appear in about 50% threads. Brand Virat Kohli is as much about Anushka Sharma as much about Cricket. This at one hand is nowhere posing as a role-model for Sportspersons as well as appears like abuse of power most of the time. People would of course notice such things but would speak only at such events like today, when Anushka Sharma has been named by Farokh Engineer.

At the same time, Farokh Engineer's comment on the competency of selection committee should be taken seriously. I was very surprised when India lost the World Cup recently due to selection committee's and Virat Kohli's incompetency in being sure about people and their number in final 11, we still did not take any action against them. All such instances indicate that Cricket is being driven by politics today, than talent.

It is high time the current status of selection committee's non-sense decisions and having no accountability should be changed. And film-celebrities like Anushka Sharma should be told not to interfere with the spirit of the game.

Day-Night Test Cricket is a Bad Idea!

The newly elected BCCI President Sourav Ganguli is strongly pitching for Day-Night Test Cricket. He wants the second Test match between India and Bangladesh to be held in Day-Night format. Media is widely spreading the chorus without questioning the reasoning behind the demand. 

It is understood that Test Cricket invites less number of watchers. But the reason is not that the game is played during the day. The reason is that the game continues for 5 days! No one has such kind of time and hence Test Cricket is one of the most "Outdated" games today. And Day-Night format will not solve this problem. 

Then the question is - what is the problem that Day-Night format of Test Cricket supposed to solve? No one has any good answer! 

But the pitfalls are many. Day-Night format will lead to increased cost or expense in conducting the matches. Also, it will mean the employees and supporting staff will have to work at inhuman hours in order to make the arrangements. Their families and kids will suffer apart from their health. The BCCI or their super-rich President may not be worried about increased cost, since their coffers are filled with gold, but the human cost of conducting the matches at inhuman hours should not be over-looked by the decision makers. 

The sane thing to do about this proposal is to ask questions. And if there are no good answers, simly disagree with the proposal!

https://rahultiwaryuniverse.blogspot.com/2019/10/why-day-night-cricket-is-bad-idea.html