An Indian cricketer has, for the first time, admitted to have gone the Glenn Maxwell way and decided to take an “indefinite sabbatical from cricket”, citing “severe anxiety related to the sport for a while now”.

Aryaman, son of industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, revealed his mental stress-related problems in an Instagram post on Friday.

“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,” said the 22-year-old Mumbaikar, who plays for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy.

“I’ve felt trapped. I’ve pushed myself through all the distress so far, but now I feel the need to put my mental health and well-being above all else,” he wrote.

“And so, I have decided to take an undefined sabbatical from cricket...I hope to be back when the time is right.

“We all have our own journeys and I want to take this time to understand myself better...”