India is yet to accept the issues regarding mental health: MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the veteran Indian cricketer, reckons that India hasn’t quite come to terms with the issues, pertaining to mental health. In the last few months, a number of cricketers have come out and spoke about the same. England’s Sarah Taylor quit the sport amidst her battles with anxiety. And it wasn’t the first time when she took herself away from the sport.

Back in October 2019, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell took a break from cricket as he wanted time-off to get his mental condition on place. The Victorian revealed how he felt anger and rage inside himself, which affected his performances as well. The 38-year-old Dhoni is known to possess a calm head, but he had butterflies in his stomach during the initial phases of his innings.

I feel a bit scared because that’s how everybody feels: MS Dhoni

“In India, I feel there is still a big issue of accepting that there is some weakness when it comes to the mental aspects, but we generally term it as mental illness,” Dhoni was quoted as saying in a session conducted by MFORE while sharing his experience with top coaches.

“Nobody really says that, when I go to bat, the first 5 to 10 deliveries my heart rate is elevated, I feel the pressure, I feel a bit scared because that’s how everybody feels – how to cope with that?” the Jharkhand-born mentioned.

MFORE is a non-profit initiative started by S Badrinath, the former Indian batsman, and Saravana Kumar. Its goal is to offer mind conditioning programmes for improved performance in sports.

Dhoni, one of India’s most successful captains, threw light on the importance of a mental-conditioning coach in a team. He said that the relationship between a player and coach should be healthy as that’s when a cricketer could seek the mentor’s help regarding mental issues.

“This is a small problem but a lot of times we hesitate to say it to a coach and that’s why the relationship between a player and coach is very important be it any sport. If the mental conditioning coach is constantly with the player, he can understand what are the areas which are affecting his sport,” Dhoni added.