"Cricket as a sport, globally, has the highest rates of suicide” - Former India cricketer, who dealt with mental health issues, makes shocking claim

Former India batter Robin Uthappa has claimed that cricket has the highest suicide rate among all global sports. Uthappa, who has himself dealt with mental health issues in the past, believes the pressure of competition within the team weighs heavily on several stakeholders involved with the sport.

He added that not just the players but even the umpires and broadcasters, among others, are involved in suicide cases.

Talking about the same with Lallantop, Uthappa said (via CricTracker):

"I think very few people know this fact that cricket as a sport, globally, has the highest rates of suicide. And it's a very lesser-known fact. That's across and not just players. Players, umpires, broadcasters, the most number of suicides happen within cricket."

He added:

"If you look at cricket, cricket is as much an individual sport, as a team sport. You are competing with your opening partner as much as you are competing with the third opener outside of 11. So existing in that mindset consistently for 10-15 years means mentally it leaves you in a very dark place."

Uthappa played 59 white-ball (ODIs and T20Is) games for India during his nine-year international career. He was part of the squad when India won the 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa.

"In 2011, I was so ashamed of who I became as a human being" - Robin Uthappa

Uthappa dealt with mental issues during his tenure with RCB between 2009 and 2010 [Credit: Getty]

Robin Uthappa opened up about the mental issues he faced between 2009 and 2011 and how he eventually overcame them. His remarks came in the wake of former England batter Graham Thorpe's death in August 2024 and ex-Indian pacer David Johnson's death in June last year.

"In 2011, I was so ashamed of who I became as a human being. It's absolutely ok to not know what you have to do next. Sometimes existing for that one day, is what you have to do next. Often you don't need light at the end of the tunnel. You need the light only till the next step," Uthappa said on his YouTube channel 'Robin Uthappa' a few months ago.

He added:

"We are going to be talking about depression and suicide. We recently heard about Graham Thorpe and David Johnson from India. VB Chandra Sekhar sir who was the rock of CSK. I have been there as well. It's not a pretty journey. It's debilitating. You feel like you are burden to people you love . It's challenging. You feel like you are worth less."

After being a regular in the Indian white-ball side until 2007, Uthappa played only sparingly over the next eight years.