Indian Cricket has always produced a fine line of batsmen, with one legendary batter replacing the other one, due to the rich reservoir of the potential it possesses.
However, only a handful get the opportunity to receive the long rope in the Indian side, thereby achieving a successful career.
Therefore, the sport is highly competitive in the country, as players have to keep performing optimally to prove their worth to the selectors, and then to retain their place in the side, with a hundred waiting behind.
Thus, the players have their own challenges and struggles while coping up with the taxing mental pressures. Now, Robin Uthappa has revealed about having suicidal tendencies while suffering from clinical depression.
“I remember around 2009 to 2011, it was constant and I would deal with that on a daily basis, being clinically depressed and had suicidal thoughts,” Uthappa said during the latest session of ‘Mind, Body and Soul’, an initiative by Rajasthan Royal (RR) foundation.
Uthappa was part of India’s 2007 World T20 triumph in South Africa. He helped India chase down a monumental total in the 2007 Oval ODI against England, with his finishing knock.
However, the Karnataka stalwart was frequently in and out of the Indian side, until the Zimbabwe tour of India in 2015, when he donned the Indian colours last.
“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,” added the 34-year-old.
Parallelly, Uthappa had a successful title-winning stint at the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), before being bagged by RR during auctions for IPL 2020.
Uthappa is also renowned for his selfless run-a-ball knock at Kolkata against Sri Lanka, alongside Rohit Sharma, who broke the world record for the highest individual score of 264 in 2014.
“Cricket kept my mind off of these thoughts, but it became really difficult on non-match days and during the offseason. 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,” concluded Uthappa.
