Former India captain Kapil Dev invited the ire of social media for his comments on mental health and depression while talking about how cricketers should have a passion to play the game and that words like "pressure" and "depression" were unknown to him in his playing days.
Kapil Dev was speaking at the 'Champions of Aakash 2022' event organized by Byju’s and answered some questions about how the condensed cricketing calendar and mushrooming T20 leagues all over the globe were putting the cricketers under pressure to perform every time they went out.
Representing one's country and donning the national jersey is a moment of pride for all budding cricketers. But it comes at a price. With the viewership of cricket increasing by the day, the margin of error for cricketers begins to lessen, adding more pressure on cricketers with social media being the platform where players are often targetted.
Kapil Dev speaking about the same said that if players feel there is pressure in playing IPL, then they should rather opt out. He then added that even students of class 10 and 12 nowadays feel the "pressure", which again, he admitted that he never found logic in it.
"I hear a lot of times on TV that there's a lot of pressure on players to play in the IPL. Then I only say one thing, don't play. If a player has passion, there will be no pressure. I can't understand these American terms, like depression. I'm a farmer and we play because we enjoy the game, and there can't be any pressure while enjoying the game," Kapil said.
“I remember going to a school where students of class 10 and 12 told him they face lot of pressure. I said, 'So also face pressure!'. You people sit in air-conditioned rooms with fees paid by your parents, teachers cannot beat you up, then were is this pressure coming from? Ask me what pressure is all about. Teachers used to beat us up and then would ask where we had gone. Students need to convert this into pleasure and fun, pressure is a very wrong word.” he added.
Here is the video of the same:
However, a legion of fans and social media users are lambasting the 1983 World Cup-winning captain for his views and statement on mental health and for not understanding what depression was.
Here are some reactions:
