There are two issues arising from Suresh Raina’s return to India before the commencement of the IPL in the UAE that are important: Communication, and empathy.
Officially, we don’t know why Raina, who has retired from international cricket (attracting a letter of appreciation from the Prime Minister who also recommended that he spend more time with his family), is back.
Also read: Raina has been influential as a CSK player: N. Srinivasan
“Personal reasons” is a hold-all that carries reasons ranging from personal angst to the professional heave-ho. The latter theory gained credence when in a section of the media, CSK owner N. Srinivasan reportedly said Raina had acted like a prima donna. Later he clarified that he had been misquoted and that Raina’s contribution to the CSK is phenomenal and he needed to be given space to deal with his issues. Perhaps Srinivasan and the CSK are being kind.
But that phrase, “personal reasons” tends to cause confusion and as television has shown us in recent weeks, when there is a lack of information, ill-founded theories rush in to fill the vacuum.
Did Raina break the bio-secure bubble? Bubble-breaking isn’t unusual. England’s Jofra Archer took a detour to go home while the team was in the bubble during the West Indies series. Pakistan’s Mohammed Hafeez tweeted a picture of himself with an elderly lady at a golf course and had to undergo a further period of quarantine.
If Raina broke the bubble, it should have made clear for two reasons: to send out a message to the others in the bubble, and to give the tournament greater credibility for taking a tough call. It is never easy to send back a player of Raina’s ability from a tournament where he has been one of the stars.
Tough choices
Raina is 33, a father of two children, and might have put on the balance matters of family and safety on one side and on the other, money and future prospects. And decided that the latter was less important.
Even before teams come out to perform in empty stadiums, there is the matter of quarantine in hotel rooms, and a slew of do’s and don’ts that can make life difficult. Confinement and isolation can give rise to ‘cabin fever’, where decreased motivation, lethargy and depression are companions. The pandemic, where large portions of the world’s population have been confined indoors, has caused much stress. Cabin fever is common, but seldom commented on.
In fact, most variations from normal behaviour in bio-secure bubbles can be put down to cabin fever, and that calls for sympathy and understanding. We don’t know enough.
There hasn’t been enough cricket played in the bubble — West Indies and Pakistan played in England without any major mishaps — to arrive at conclusions that hold true for all such competitions. And that’s why the IPL experiment is important. There are more players in more teams playing over more days than anywhere or at any other time during the pandemic. Cricket cannot afford to get it wrong. The IPL cannot afford to get it wrong.
Players are human
Initially 13 people, including two players, tested positive for COVID-19 in the CSK outfit and we don’t know how that is affecting the others mentally. Josh Hazlewood, the Australian pace bowler, who is expected to arrive in the UAE later has said that he is “a little bit concerned.” With over two weeks to go before the start of the 53-day tournament, there’s a lot of time to worry. Players are human, and might profit from counselling in that period.
Awareness of mental issues in sport have, in recent years, removed the stigma attached to them. Cricket boards have begun to treat the public like adults, explaining the problem a player might have just as they would have spoken of an injury to the body.
Three months in a bubble is a long time, and it can do things to your mind and emotions. As mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton told ESPNcricinfo , “Funny things could happen”. Teams which handle these situations well will do better than teams which rely only on the basic skills of batting, bowling and fielding.
There is the virus itself which is worrying, and then there is the potential for getting affected, which causes worry too. To handle personal issues without damning the player or disrespecting the pain is a big responsibility. Players and captains need to be made aware of extraordinary cases in these extraordinary times. Empathy can only come from awareness.
That cricket is a mental game is one of its enduring cliches. That is truer now than ever before.
