'Immature, sad, disappointing': Kapil Dev in the eye of a social media storm for his comments on mental health and pressure

mental health' of sportspersons amid choc-a-bloc event calendars, mounting expectations and time away from families. The conversation around mental health is slowly taking on a mature hue in India, as more and more people accept the fact that it is very important to talk about things that are pulling you down mentally and to seek help to rectify that. Around the world, more and more athletes are openly talking about their mental health, taking mental health breaks and actively talking about how the rigours of modern-day sport, which has so many more facets now than just on-field play, adds immense mental pressure. Mental health is a very very important subject, not just for athletes, but for every single one of us. It wasn't a big surprise then to see many, many fans react angrily to comments made by India's 1983 cricket World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev at an event recently. In a video that has gone viral, Kapil can be seen talking about "pressure" and "depression" in what many feel is a derogatory way, calling them "American words". "I hear a lot of times on TV these days, there's a lot of pressure, (we) play the IPL, so there's so much pressure. Then I only say one thing - don't play. What is pressure? If a player has passion, there will be no pressure. I can't understand these American words like pressure, depression. I don't understand these. I'm a farmer and we played to enjoy, and there can't be any pressure in enjoyment," Kapil said at the 'Chat with Champions' event.

Kapil went on to further talk about "pressure", citing the example of school students. "I went to a school once and the students said 'there is a lot of pressure"...(So I said) You people study in air-conditioned schools, your parents pay the