As you know it’s cricket season and it is one of the most followed sports worldwide with approximately 2.5 billion followers, with most of them in South Asian regions like India Pakistan, etc. Cricket is very well connected with the emotions of people. A good game brings joy into their fan’s life and they cherish it for days. People tend to follow their favorite team and players and pray all day for a victorious end of the match. Similarly, as much as a match matters to a fan, it matters more to a player who practices all year long with not many breaks or vacations, is away from their family, and works hard in the scorching heat ignoring many injuries every day.
However, if a player drops a catch, doesn’t bowl or bat well, or gets run out, the same fans become violent and aggressive against them. They insult and bash them for a single mistake. Even though in sports like cricket, a small mistake could cost them a whole match or a series at times, fans without taking all external and internal factors into account often troll and criticize the player to an extent where even the player loses his confidence. An example would be T20 World Cup 2021 semifinal when Hassan Ali dropped an important catch of Mathew Wade which cost the team the complete series. Hassan was massively trolled online with severe criticism, making his mistake a sin. Similarly, a young fast Indian bowler Arshdeep Singh was heavily criticized when he dropped a catch in India vs Pakistan, Asia cup 2022. He was not just slammed harshly but even received serious threats.
Such behaviors of the fans put cricketers in a bad position affecting their mental health which ultimately costs defeat to the team. Therefore; through your platform, I would like to request the concerned authorities to give more light on such issues and take care of players both physical and mental health into consideration and support them through thick and thin.
