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

Richer Countries Win More Medals in the Asian Games

Asian Games have recently concluded. Various analysis have been made about performances of different countries in the games, but one interesting aspect is that the richer countries had a better medals-to-population ratio in the recently concluded Asian Games. 

From the article "The wealth of nations and sporting success", published Wed, Sep 05 2018: 

"The most tangible manifestation of wealth’s impact is on the ability to spend on sports. In their book, Successful Elite Sport Policies, Veerle de Bosscher and co-authors analyse the performance of 15 successful sporting nations to highlight nine pillars for sporting triumph. They find that while there is no generic policy blueprint, there is a strong positive relationship between money spent on sports development and success."

Is it not logical and at the same time a little sad? 

This is why I have my personal opinion that poor countries should not spend too much money over sports; because they simply can't compete with the amount of money the richer countries spend. 

Referece: https://www.livemint.com/Sports/1DKgIYnkuOgW7eqHzgIs5M/The-wealth-of-nations-and-sporting-success.html

Drama in US Open Final 2018

You must have come across what happened in the US Open Final where Serena William lost. 

If decades of disciplined training and professional sports can't teach Serena Williams about how to behave herself; are benefits from professional sports all but hype? 

Not only she used foul language against the umpire, she also threatened him, accused with sexism where there was none, hijacked the stage and completely ruined it for the true Champion! 

Serena has mother of all meltdowns in US Open final loss

What was supposed to be history descended into histrionics. Serena Williams came into Saturday’s U.S. Open final looking for a record-setting title. What she got was a game penalty and an emotional meltdown. 

Though Williams repeatedly demanded an apology from chair umpire Carlos Ramos and got a game penalty after calling him a “liar” and a “thief,” she ended the match in tears. And Osaka — who sat in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium when she was 5, watching Williams play — was in tears herself as the pro-Williams crowd rained boos upon the victor’s stand, which included USTA officials. 

In the second game of the second set, Ramos hit Williams with a code violation for receiving coaching from Patrick Mouratoglou from her player’s box. 

“You owe me an apology,” Williams said. “I’ve never cheated in my life. I have a daughter and stand for what’s right for her.” 

Still, Mouratoglou admitted he’d given her advice, though threw in the disclaimer she may not have seen it from the other end of the court. 

“I just texted Patrick, like, what is he talking about? Because we don’t have signals, we’ve never discussed signals. I don’t even call for on-court coaching,” Williams said. “I’m trying to figure out why he would say that. I don’t understand. Maybe he said, ‘You can do it.’ I was on the far other end, so I’m not sure. I want to clarify myself what he’s talking about.” 

Williams got a second code violation four games later, up 3-2. After Osaka broke her serve, Williams broke her racket in frustration and was assessed a point penalty. 

“You will never, ever be on another court of mine as long as you live. You’re the liar. When are you going to give me my apology? Say it! Say you’re sorry!” Williams ranted, before ending with, “You’re a thief, too.” 

That was the last straw, and Ramos hit her with a third code violation for verbal abuse, which cost Williams a game to put Osaka up 5-3. An irate Williams argued in vain to tournament referee Brian Earley and got closed out two games later. 

The U.S. Open released a statement saying “the chair umpire’s decision was final and not reviewable by the Tournament Referee or the Grand Slam Supervisor who were called to the court at that time.” Williams contends that letter of the law wouldn’t have been followed if she’d been male. 

“I’ve seen other men call other umpires several things. I’m here fighting for women’s rights and for women’s equality. For me to say ‘thief’ and for him to take a game, it made me feel like it was sexist,” Williams said. “He’s never taken a game from a man because they said ‘thief’. For me it blows my mind.” 

https://nypost.com/2018/09/08/serena-has-mother-of-all-meltdowns-in-us-open-final-loss/ 

It’s shameful what US Open did to Naomi Osaka 

Naomi Osaka, 20 years old, just became the first player from Japan to win a Grand Slam.
Yet rather than cheer Osaka, the crowd, the commentators and US Open officials all expressed shock and grief that Serena Williams lost. 

Osaka spent what should have been her victory lap in tears. It had been her childhood dream to make it to the US Open and possibly play against Williams, her idol, in the final. 

It’s hard to recall a more unsportsmanlike event. 

Here was a young girl who pulled off one of the greatest upsets ever, who fought for every point she earned, ashamed. 

At the awards ceremony, Osaka covered her face with her black visor and cried. The crowd booed her. Katrina Adams, chairman and president of the USTA, opened the awards ceremony by denigrating the winner and lionizing Williams — whose ego, if anything, needs piercing. 

“Perhaps it’s not the finish we were looking for today,” Adams said, “but Serena, you are a champion of all champions.” Addressing the crowd, Adams added, “This mama is a role model and respected by all.” 

That’s not likely the case now, not after the world watched as Serena Williams had a series of epic meltdowns on the court, all sparked when the umpire warned her: No coaching from the side. Her coach was making visible hand signals. 

“I don’t cheat to win,” Williams told him. “I’d rather lose.” 

She couldn’t let it go, going back multiple times to berate the umpire. At one point she called him a thief. 

“You stole a point from me!” she yelled. 

After her loss, Williams’s coach admitted to ESPN that he had, in fact, been coaching from the stands, a code violation. The warning was fair. 

Everything that followed is on Williams, who is no stranger to tantrums. Most famously, she was tossed from the US Open in 2009 after telling the line judge, “I swear to God I’ll take the f—king ball and shove it down your f—king throat.” John McEnroe was taken aback. Even Williams’s mother Oracene Price couldn’t defend her daughter’s outburst.
“She could have kept her cool,” Price said. 

On Saturday, she also could have tried to be gracious in defeat. No matter how her fans try to spin this, Williams was anything but. Upon accepting her finalist award, she gave parsimonious praise to her competitor while telling the crowd she felt their pain. 

“Let’s try to make this the best moment we can,” she said in part, “and we’ll get through it . . . let’s not boo anymore. We’re gonna get through this and let’s be positive, so congratulations, Naomi.” 

Osaka accepted her trophy while choking back tears. She never smiled. When asked if her childhood dream of playing against Williams matched the reality, she politely sidestepped the question. 

“I’m sorry,” Osaka said. “I know that everyone was cheering for her and I’m sorry it had to end like this.” 

She turned to Williams. “I’m really grateful I was able to play with you,” Osaka said. “Thank you.” She bowed her head to Williams, and Williams just took it — no reciprocation, no emotion. 

Osaka, a young player at the beginning of her career, showed grit, determination and maturity on that court and off. 

She earned that trophy. Let’s recall that this wasn’t Osaka’s first victory over Williams — she beat Williams back in March, causing a hiccup in that great comeback narrative. 

Osaka earned her moment as victor at the US Open, one that should have been pure joy. If anything was stolen during this match, it was that. 

https://nypost.com/2018/09/08/its-shameful-what-us-open-did-to-naomi-osaka/

The manner in which Serena Williams has behaved today, tells the real truth about how professional competitive sports kills the true "sportsmanship" and turns champion players into just slaves of their own successes.

While entire world is condemning Serena Williams for her behavior, let us also accept that it is not only about Serena. It is about the "game".