Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar wants sportspersons to come out and reveal the exact nature of their mental health issues so that it helps others overcome the problem.

During the pandemic, mental health has forced Naomi Osaka to drop out of the French Open and Wimbledon, US gymnast Simone Biles to withdraw from five out of six events in Tokyo, and Ben Stokes to take an indefinite break from cricket.

“It is definitely tough, no questions about it, particularly in the current situation where you are confined to limited space, limited friends and limited acquaintances. What would help others who are possibly undergoing similar situations is to know the actual reason for these mental health issues because that would help,” Gavaskar, who is part of the commentary team for the coming India-England Test series, said in reply to a query from The Telegraph on Monday.

“Is it fear of failure? Is it the burden of expectations? Is it just looking at the opposition and thinking I am not going to fulfil the role that is expected of me? Or is it fear of physical injury? These are some of the things that can cause you mental stress and trauma.

“So if Stokes would come out and say this is the exact reason, it will help many young players who might be going through the same situation. That would definitely mean they would be able to cope with it knowing that it’s not just them but even a great player like Stokes who is having to deal with a situation like that... Then they will be able to approach the right kind of people to help them to cope with the problem,” Gavaskar said.

Stokes’ teammate James Anderson feels it affects every sportsman differently.

“Well, I think it affects people very differently. There are different pressures that come with being successful in your sport... certainly from Ben’s point of view, he has been through a lot in the last few years, he has played a hell lot of cricket. What is positive from all of this is that in the last few years, it has definitely become okay to talk about it,” the fast bowler said.

“Certainly when I started, especially from a male athlete’s point of view, maybe it was seen as a weakness if you came and spoke about it. So, I am grateful that it has become okay to talk about it... And from our point of view, with Ben, we hope that he gets the rest and comes back (as a) stronger cricketer.”

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