new delhi the fear of the unknown instilled in one and all due to the deadly covid19 pandemic has exposed mankind to its sternest test of the centurysportspersons are no different as they wait for normalcy to return in everyday lifemental health issues of sportspersons is now a serious topic and recently australia coach justin langer advocated the need to keep a tab on the younger lot as to how they are coping up with trying timesin the midst of a 21day lockdown pti spoke to a few current and former cricketers to understand how despite it being a long lockdown indias sportspersons are mentally strongermaninder singh manoj tiwary and irfan pathan say indias family structure helps us cope with unprecedented crisis while deep dasgupta had a slightly contrarian view as he felt that it would be interesting test of familiar relationshipsi believe that indias close knit family culture is something that will help us cope with mental pressure during these uncertain times i am constantly travelling and now i get to feed my son lunch everyday its a completely new experience but worth it manoj said while explaining the difference with some of the western countriesyou probably see a 21yearold player from some of the first world country living alone all by himself he has ipl riches loves to party enjoy life and then something like this happens you are alone and suddenly all negative stuff keeps crossing your mind and as they say idle mind is a devils workshop the 34yearold saidirfan spoke about how most of our sporting community which comes up through hardships become tougher in the long runif you look at england australia if you dont have jobs the government takes care and gives you financial support till you again become self sufficient its a great thing you have very little to worry in india we have to earn it the hard way we learn hardships from early age said the former india allrounderand of course family support matters he agrees with manojthey are with you because they love you unconditionally and not when you are on top of your game unlike players of other countries we have a support system to fall back on in my home i have my elder brother his family my family our parents once you are done with your job you know you are coming home to a full family pathan saidmaninder former india leftarm spinner who has battled depressions although for entirely different reasons put it aptlykhali ghar mein kisse baat karogey aap deewaron seyou cant talk to walls in an empty house loneliness is never good having family and friends around helps be in a positive environment we have our struggles and i dont think our players would need mental helpdasgupta however is not so sure but said the coming days would provide an interesting case studythese 21 days will be a test of relationships and how our support system works everyone is talking about quality time