Indians are a bit more tolerant than overseas players on mental health: Sourav Ganguly

As players from around the world gear up to stay in the bio-bubble for two months for the upcoming IPL 2021, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has acknowledged that life in bubbles can be tough. The former India skipper stated that life in bio-bubbles can be completely different from normalcy and can have an effect on players’ mental health.

Since the game commenced after a temporary halt due to the pandemic, cricketers have been practically living in a bubble with no real break in between. In recent times, several players have spoken on the ill effects of living in bio-bubbles. Recently, India skipper Virat Kohli had asserted that the team-management should keep a constant check on the players to know about their mental health.

And Ganguly has also acknowledged the issues the players have to deal with while staying in bubbles. At the same time, Ganguly made an interesting observation. Speaking at a virtual promotional event on Tuesday, the legendary batsman said Indians are more tolerant to the rigours of the bio-bubbles than overseas cricketers.

“I feel we Indians are a bit more tolerant than overseas (cricketers). I’ve played with a lot of Englishmen, Australians, West Indians, they just give up on mental health. In the last six-seven months, with so much cricket being going on in the bio-bubble it’s so tough. Just going from the hotel room to the ground, handle the pressure and come back to the room and then get back to the ground again, it’s an absolutely different life,” Sourav Ganguly was quoted as saying by India Today.

‘You have to train yourself mentally’

Sourav Ganguly further advised the players to stay positive in order to deal with the rigours of staying in bio-bubbles. He cited the example of the Australia cricket team which pulled out of the tour to South Africa on medical grounds. Australia were slated for a three-Test tour in March-April but they pulled out citing an “unacceptable level of health and safety risk to players, support staff and the community”.

“Look at the Australian team, they were supposed to go to South Africa for a Test series after India played there. They refused to go there…

“And always there’s this scare of COVID. ‘Hope it’s not me the next time’. You have to stay positive, you have to train yourself mentally. All of us have to train ourselves mentally so that only good will happen. It boils down to training,” Ganguly said.

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