Aussie pinch-hitter Glenn Maxwell, who decided to take an indefinite break from cricket due to mental health issues, has India skipper Virat Kohli’s full support. On Wednesday, Kohli heaped rich praise on Maxwell for his judgement and recalled the time he was struggling to deal with his ordinary performances on the 2014 England tour.
“I think what Glenn has done is remarkable. It will set the right example for cricketers all over the world that if you’re not in the best frame of mind, you try, you try and try. I think, as human beings, you reach a tipping point at some stage you need some time away from the game,” Virat Kohli said at the pre-match conference of the 1st Test against Bangladesh in Indore.
“I think these things should be respected and not taken in a negative way at all because this is happening at a human level, it’s got nothing to do with what you do on the field or not. Just not having the capacity to deal with things, which I think can happen to anyone so I think it should be taken in a very positive way” he added.
5 years ago, Kohli himself was going through a difficult phase during India’s tour of England, in which he managed 134 runs from 10 innings. The right hander confessed that he felt like “it was the end of the world”
“In England 2014, I didn’t know what to do, what to say to anyone, how to speak, how to communicate. And to be honest, I couldn’t have said ‘I am not feeling great mentally and I need to get away from the game’ because you never know how that’s taken.”
“These things should be of great importance. If you think that a player is important enough for the Indian team, then he/she should be taken good care of. When you get to the international stage, every player in the squad needs that sort of communication and ability to speak out” he concluded.
