Online abuse, alcoholism to playing in World Cup final: The Sinalo Jafta story

Sober now Sinalo Jafta had descended into alcoholism after being bombarded with social media vitriol sending me over the edge and prompting her to contemplate retirement from cricket at 27Then began the revival the high point of which has been playing a part in South Africas march into the final of the Womens T20 World Cup This is four months after she had checked into rehab for alcohol abuseAs they are wont to South Africa faltered at the last hurdle but this silver is as good as gold for Jafta for she was not even in a position to hold the bat properly in the nottoodistant past let alone play in a World Cup finalAlso Read Revisited Key moments from the Womens T20 World Cup 2023 that you cannot missTwo months ago I came out of rehab the South Africa wicketkeeper batter said shedding a few tears after the teams heartbreaking loss in the summit clash against Australia here on SundayIve got God to thank for my sobriety and the team have been so supportive I came out on December 8 and for me to get fit to play hectic What a journey The person you get on the field is someone who gets on their knees every day I am not in control of anything God is always in controlWhen the going got too difficult for her following continuous online abuse friends and family helped her heeled herSocial media it doesnt support you You have a really tough day and people just bullet you That sent me over the edge It just wouldnt stop I remember coming back from the Commonwealth Games in August and everything just broke I lost who I wasThe online abuse affected her mental health which led to her drinking excessivelyThe wicketkeeper who bats mostly at No8 would be attacked for her performance her body weight and her raceMy mom Lumka Jafta was one of the people who supported me through it and the team doctor and the management gave me two months medical leave I was in treatment for 56 days I learnt the best about myself People are allowed to have their opinions but it doesnt define who I am she saidHad it not been for the timely help her story could have unfolded differentlyI was walking away from cricket October 7 is when I made the decision I was going to go into treatment I was done I felt like I had nothing left to give I was 27 I was done Now as a 28yearold Ive got my career ahead of me The fact that I can say I have a career ahead of me she recalledLooking at the silver medal she said I am going to wear this I am going to go to bed with it I am going to shower with it because this wasnt even possible for me This is probably my gold for nowAustralia won a recordextending sixth T20 World Cup title after beating the hosts by 19 runs in the final at a packed NewlandsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever