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

Former Indian batter Robin Uthappa recently opened up about the mental health struggles faced by players and revealed the shocking fact that cricket as a sport has the highest rate of suicides globally.

In his recent discussion, he touched upon the pressures and mental toll the game exerts on players, umpires, and broadcasters alike. Speaking during an interview, Uthappa explained how the competitive nature of the game becomes challenging. 

"If you look at cricket, cricket is as much an individual sport, as a team sport. You are competing with your opening partner as much as you are competing with the third opener outside of 11. So existing in that mindset consistently for 10-15 years means mentally it leaves you in a very dark place. I think very few people know this fact that cricket as a sport, globally, has the highest rates of suicide. And it's a very lesser-known fact. That across and not just players. Players, umpires, broadcasters, the most number of suicides happen within cricket," he said to Lallantop.

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Uthappa himself has had personal experiences of battling depression. During the early phase of his international career between 2009 and 2011, the former batter faced severe criticism which led to depression and battling suicidal thoughts during off-seasons. For an entire year in 2011, Uthappa avoided mirrors and was unable to face himself due to a sense of shame and failure. He later asked for professional help which became a turning point in his life, helping him to slowly regain confidence and purpose. Uthappa cited the case of England’s Graham Thorpe, who surrendered to mental health struggles despite undergoing multiple treatments. 

"I feel I have reached this place because I've gone through those tough phases wherein, I was clinically depressed and had suicidal thoughts. I remember around 2009 to 2011, it was constant and I would deal with that on a daily basis. There were times where I wasn't even thinking about cricket, it was probably the farthest thing in my mind. 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," the former said in a session of Mind, Body and Soul.

"Cricket kept my mind off of these thoughts but it became really difficult on non-match days and during the off-season. On days I would just be sitting there and would think to myself on the count of three, I'm going to run and jump off of the balcony but something kind of just held me back. That is when I started noting this down about myself in a diary and started the process of just understanding myself as a person. I then started to seek outside help to make those changes I wanted to make in my life," he had added.

The 39-year-old, who was a part of the 2007 T20 World Cup winning squad, represented India in 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is, hitting 934 and 249 runs respectively. The former is frequently seen playing in international leagues and enjoys his stint as a commentator.