'If A Player has Passion, There Will Be No Pressure' - Kapil Dev Asks Players To Skip IPL

In the times when cricket has expanded to multiple leagues and international series, legendary cricketer Kapil Dev has advised young players to stop complaining about pressure in the game. He stated that if  a format like the Indian Premier League (IPL) is impacting their overall mental and physical health then they should stop playing it.

Recently, at an event, “Champions of Aakash 2022" at Taj Palace, Kapil Dev shared his views  regarding the nature of competitive cricket in the modern era. He said that cricket these days has become a demanding game often leading the players talking about pressure.

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However, he opined that he doesn’t believe in pressure as players should focus on playing the sport with passion because one can never feel burdened if they are enjoying the game.

“I hear a lot of times on TV that there’s a lot of pressure on players to play in the IPL. Then I only say one thing, don’t play. If a player has passion, there will be no pressure. I can’t understand these American terms, like depression. I’m a farmer and we play because we enjoy the game, and there can’t be any pressure while enjoying the game," Kapil said.

His remarks were in context to the incidents wherein quite a few international players admitted that playing all formats has become unsustainable for them amid these testing times.

Kapil also talked about pressure among school children and then mocked it by saying,

“I remember going to a school where students of class 10 and 12 told him they face a lot of pressure. I said, ‘So also face pressure!’. You people sit in air-conditioned rooms with fees paid by your parents, and teachers cannot beat you up, then where is this pressure coming from? Ask me what pressure is all about. Teachers used to beat us up and then would ask where we had gone."

This comment, however didn’t go well with the netizens as they said that the former cricketer shouldn’t have given such a casual remark on a serious topic like depression and mental health.

One of the user tweeted, “It’s sad to see a legend like Kapil Dev trying to undermine mental health issues (pressure and depression). What he doesn’t realise is that you do not get rid of the issues by denying it. Today’s youth knows and doesn’t shy in expressing themselves & that’s the right thing to do."

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