Anxiety, exhaustion, rejuvenation: Why Aryaman Birla, Maxwell & other cricketers decided to take a break

In the last few months, a number of cricketers are deciding to temporarily step back from the game (or a particular format).

As the decade slowly comes to an end, it’s time to pause and reflect on our respective journeys and a number of cricketers seem to be doing just that.

In the last few months, a number of cricketers have opted to take a break, either from the game itself or from a particular format. Some due to exhaustion, others due to uncertainty but all have elected to put themselves first.


Here are a few cricketers who decided to step back:

Putting mental health first
Last week, Madhya Pradesh all-rounder Aryaman Birla announced he was taking an “undefined sabbatical from cricket” to cope with “severe anxiety related to the sport.” Birla, who was part of the Rajasthan Royals till the last IPL season, mentioned feeling trapped and having had to push himself through all the distress.

“Now I feel the need to put my mental health and well-being above all else… and I hope to be back on the field when the time is right,” he posted on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Aryaman V Birla (@aryamanvb) on Dec 20, 2019 at 5:06am PST

A well-deserved break
After a power-packed but intense 2019 where he bowled the most number of overs in international cricket in 2019 and bagged an impressive Rs.15.50 crore IPL contract, Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins decided to take a well-deserved break from all forms of cricket post the Australia – India ODI series in January 2020.

Citing his heavy workload over 2019, Cummins opted to take some time off to rejuvenate before committing himself to events for next year.

Protecting my test career
In a blog for an online magazine earlier this month, English all-rounder Moeen Ali explained why he decided to sit out the current tour of South Africa. Ali hasn’t made himself available for selection in the Test format since the end of last summer.

Ali acknowledged that after a discussion with the England management, he was tempted to make an early return to the Test squad for the four-Test series at Centurion but decided that the tour “felt too soon”.

"Representing England has always been a privilege and my decision to take a break from Test cricket at the end of the home summer was made to ensure that, hopefully, I can do it for a lot longer," he wrote.

"The past few years have been so full-on and the plan behind my break from Test cricket was to freshen up, enjoy some new environments and get my game back in good order. That is something that people perhaps don't realise is hard to do when you play all three international formats and particularly so when you are an all-rounder."

Taking a break from the road
Earlier this year, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell pulled out of Australia’s T20I series against Sri Lanka to focus exclusively on his mental health. Having recently returned to club cricket where he’s playing for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash league, Maxwell said that he was ‘cooked’ after spending so much time on the road.

“I decided to take some time off and a big reason as to why I took that time away was because I was mentally and physically ruined from I think it was eight months on the road and living out of a suitcase.”

“That had probably been going on for four or five years being on the road. It just all caught up with me at that time and I really want to thank Cricket Australia, Cricket Victoria and the (Melbourne) Stars for giving me that space and having that time away from the game,” he said.

On the eve of his playing return, Maxwell also scored a $2.91 million contract with Kings XI Punjab for the upcoming IPL.