Aryaman Birla takes 'undefined sabbatical' from cricket due to anxiety issues

Madhya Pradesh batsman Aryaman Birla has decided to take an ‘undefined sabbatical’ from the game in order to deal with his anxiety-related issues. The 22-year batsman confirmed his decision on Instagram and vowed to return to the game when the time would be right. While Aryaman is yet to make his international and IPL debut, he is a household name in this country because of his family background.

The youngster is the son of one of India’s richest men – industrialist Mangalam Birla. He hit the headlines when Rajasthan Royals signed him in 2018 and retained him for 2019 season too. However, the left-handed batsman could not get the opportunity to make his IPL debut. He was released by the franchise last month ahead of the recently-concluded auction.

What made things tough for Aryaman was his recent struggles with injury. He has suffered a spate of injuries in recent times. As a result of those setbacks, he has not played any competitive game since January this year. And with nothing working out fine in his career at the moment, the opening batsman has decided to stay away from cricket for an indefinite period of time in order to work on his mental well-being.

“Coping with severe anxiety” – Aryaman Birla

Taking to Instagram to confirm his decision, Aryaman Birla revealed that he has been dealing with severe anxiety for quite some time now. He also said that cricket is an integral part of his life and he would return to the field at the right time.

“It’s been a journey of hard work, perseverance, dedication and immense courage to get to this point in my cricket career. However, I’ve been coping with severe anxiety related to the sport for a while now,” he wrote.

“I felt trapped. I’ve pushed myself through all the distress so far, but now I fee the need to put my mental health and well-being above all else. And so, I’ve decided to take an undefined sabbatical from cricket. This lovely sport is an integral part of my life and I hope to be back on the field when the time is right,” Aryaman added.

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

Aryaman Birla played age-group cricket for Madhya Pradesh before first making it to the senior Ranji side and debuting in 2017 as a 20-year-old. He has played nine first-class games so far. In his third Ranji game, he had scored a fine century to help his side salvage a draw against Bengal.