Ben Stokes Should Reveal Reason Behind Mental Health Issues To Help Young Players: Sunil Gavaskar

India’s legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar has said that England all-rounder Ben Stokes must reveal the reason behind his mental health issues which led him to take an indefinite break from cricket days before the commencement of the five-match Test series between England and India.

Gavaskar’s point of view is that Stokes revealing his reason could help youngsters and other players deal with their own mental health problems. Stokes had shocked the cricketing world by announcing his break from cricket which got full support from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), England Test captain Joe Root and the entire England team.

If Stokes Could Come Out And Say This Is The Reason, It Will Help A Lot Of Younger Players: Sunil Gavaskar

Ben Stokes had lost his father Ged in December 2020 after a long bout with cancer. He then suffered a finger fracture while playing for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2021 and was undergoing rehabilitation and had just gotten back to playing cricket in the Hundred.

He was prematurely called by ECB to lead the England team in their ODI series against Pakistan after the first-choice players were in isolation due to COVID-19 infections in the camp. Despite leading England to a 3-0 series win with plenty of new faces, Stokes said that he was yet to recover from his finger injury and wanted to take time off the game.

Meanwhile, Sunil Gavaskar argued that if Stokes revealed the reasons behind his mental health break, it could help other young players open up about their issues and get help for the same.

“What would help others who are undergoing a similar kind of situation is if the actual reason for this mental health thing was pointed out by these players. For example, is it fear of failure, is it the burden of expectations, is it the fear of opposition or the fear of injuries? These are some of the things that can cause mental stress,” Gavaskar said in a press conference.

“So if Stokes could come out and say this is the reason, it will help a lot of younger players who would be undergoing the same situation, they would think it’s not just them, and that even a great player like Stokes is facing a situation like these. When you just say mental health, it’s a general issue, so I hope somebody would be able to pinpoint the reason and that will certainly help the others,” he said.

The first Test between England and India begins on August 4 in Nottingham.

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