The former captain of Pakistan Cricket Team just got retired but cricket is still in his mind and heart for obvious reasons. He has spent a good part of his life playing the game and he understands the game and players really well.

Pakistan Cricket Team coach Micky Arthur spoke to media after the South Africa match. He was off the view that unnecessary criticism has a really bad effect on the player’s mental health which in return affects the performance of the team. When asked a question about Micky’s statement, Misbah said, “A player is a human being, unfortunately, fans and media do not care about his feelings.”

Moreover, Misbah shared an incident from 2016 when the team was playing a cricket series against New Zealand and Australia. Misbah said, “I was informed about the death of my father-in-law, I was suffering from severe emotional and mental problems. He was very important to me. Due to my mental disorder, my performance was also affected during this period and I was criticized.”

Misbah said that there are a couple of problems in cricket. First of all, the players don’t know when will they be removed from the team and due to this reason, a number of players don’t consult a doctor in case of injury because they think that they will be removed from the team and their career will be finished. The second problem is a bad patch. Players sometimes don’t perform well due to a bad patch in their life but media, fans, and even families criticize the player to an extent that they go in depression.

Focusing on the mental health of players, the former captain mentioned that, “Unfortunately, we do not have more mental health facilities, and neither players are trained to get rid of this pressure. Whenever a big match like India's match arrives, our players are in huge pressure.”

Misbah has raised a really important issue and we really hope that PCB realizes it as well and take proper measures in order to maintain the mental health of players.