“Champions too face anxiety. They just recognise it as a state of uncertainty that needs to be grounded—that’s exactly what Jemimah Rodrigues did,” says Kunashni Parikh, an internationally recognised clinical and sports psychologist. Batting at No 3 at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on October 30, Rodrigues’s scintillating 127 not out helped India beat the mighty Australians in a historic run chase in the semi-finals of the women’s World Cup. At a press conference after the win, the 25-year-old spoke about her battle with anxiety and self-doubt, showing her vulnerable side.
In recent years, Indian sportspersons are increasingly speaking about their mental health journeys, helping to dismantle long-standing stigmas associated with psychological well-being in competitive sports. Virat Kohli, for instance, has discussed his experiences while dealing with depression and anxiety. Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, too, has spoken about the pressures of performance and the toll it can take on an athlete’s mental state. Similarly, shuttler PV Sindhu has shared personal accounts of her emotional struggle, highlighting the invisible battles that often accompany physical performance. Conversations like these have brought awareness and mark a crucial shift in the sporting landscape, pressing on mental health to be a foundational element of an athlete’s overall well-being and sustained performance.
Athletes have always been vulnerable to mental health challenges. And one of the main reasons for that is the constant public scrutiny they face. The weight of expectations from fans, media and the nation can be overwhelming. This kind of spotlight can make it harder to cope with stress, anxiety or self-doubt.
According to Parikh, when an athlete battles both anxiety and self-doubt on the field—as Rodrigues did—it puts the onus on the psychological resilience required in sport. “It shows that despite what’s happening internally—whether it’s insecurities, doubts or personal struggles—an athlete has learnt to manage those thoughts for that period, perform under pressure and returns to process those emotions later.” This resilience, she explains, is not about suppressing what you feel but about learning to compartmentalise effectively when it matters most.
Parikh asserts that a sportsperson’s gender has no role to play in their mental health. “Sport treats everyone equally, and the mind responds in similar ways regardless of gender,” she says.
Varadayini Gorhe, founder of Mindfirst, a performance psychology consulting company, and co-founder of INSPA Sport Psychologists’ Association, disagrees. According to her reading of situations and experience, women had higher symptoms of mental health issues. Women have to deal with several external factors and life-changing situations that are not linked with sport—such as childbearing, societal expectations from families etc. These, as per Gorhe, can lead to graver symptoms of mental health issues, but also make women athletes better at handling emotions.
“More female athletes are intrinsically driven to play compared to most of the male counterparts, who are more driven by external factors like being better than someone else, fame and money,” says Gorhe. She believes that in high-stake games like the World Cup, women athletes tend to focus on emotional-driven solutions; the men rely on problem-driven solutions and coping. For instance, women may seek their teammates’ support to discuss their emotional battles, while the men may focus on executive planning to overcome hard-to-suppress emotions.
What Rodrigues did in her post-match interview was a personal decision. She spoke about her days of self-doubt, crying spells before matches, asking for help and support from parents, and relying on faith. “It sends across a message that struggling [with mental health] does not make you weak; it makes you human,” says Parikh.
Not everyone though prefers to take that road of expressing vulnerability. And that is not wrong either. Parikh explains that mental health is deeply personal, and no athlete should feel the pressure to make their inner world public unless they want to.
In Rodrigues’s case, what stood out was her ability to perform while navigating emotional turbulence. She experienced moments of heightened stress during the match, and what helped her deal with it was the immediate support of her teammates. In videos from October 30 circulated on the internet, Rodrigues is seen talking to her teammates about how she thought she won’t be able to keep going in the middle and requested her fellow batsperson Deepti Sharma to keep egging her on.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has advocated for institutional support such as the inclusion of sports psychologists within teams to ensure that mental health is treated with the same seriousness as physical fitness. Through the Sports Authority of India, sports federations across the country have taken initiatives such as having mental wellness support centres and expert psychologists for sportspersons. Sport psychologists and mental trainers are engaged at both the national and individual levels. However, is that enough?
According to Gorhe: “It is important that sports psychologists are also available during practice, and not just during tournaments.” In addition to this, an increase in the number and availability of sport psychologists is also of vital importance.
It is significant to ensure that mental health is not just a checkbox but a priority for players. And sports federations need to provide mental health support to not just the athletes but also the coaches, and the entire staff, as per Gorhe. “I have heard that a whole Olympic cycle goes to implement and execute a mental health plan for players. Therefore, hiring a sport psychologist only before a World Cup or Olympics doesn’t make an impact or any sense,” she says.
First Published: Nov 06, 2025, 13:07
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