India batsman speaks about being positive during “frustrating” times, says he is eager than ever to get back
Staying out of the game has been “frustrating” for Rohit Sharma. It was almost as if the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru was second home to him after he sustained a thigh injury that kept him out of action for four long months. Rohit had to undergo surgery and then focus on a strict fitness regime to get back to full fitness.
After a rigorous and painful rehabilitation process at the NCA, Rohit spoke of how much he had missed the game and what he had to go through during his whole rehab process. “I have been out for a long time. I missed playing for the last four months. It was frustrating but there was hardly anything I could do about it,” he begins. “It was important not to get frustrated during that phase. Rather than getting frustrated, what was important was to stay positive. You had to think about ways to comeback fitter and stronger.
“The first few weeks after the surgery you literally cannot do anything. That is the frustrating part when you are told to sit at home and do nothing much. Once I got off the bed and started walking, I was feeling more refreshed. Once I came to NCA in December, I started working on my quadriceps. When you go into a surgery, you lose a lot of muscle. The biggest challenge is to get that muscle and strength back. All your hard work that you had done in the past would mean nothing if you don’t get your strength back. My challenge was to get that strength back. Once I started running and moving well, I felt much more confident.”
Apart from pacing himself towards full recovery, which he owes it to NCA, Rohit believes getting back to the pitch with a bat in his hand wasn’t easy. “It was a long procedure. When you have a big surgery, and start your rehabilitation process, you have to go about things systematically. The physiotherapists at the NCA have been brilliant throughout my rehab process. They laid down a fitness regime and kept a tab of it.
“Once your body was ready, you couldn’t just walk to the nets and have a go. I only got back to the nets last month and felt good. When you start batting after a long time, you have to go step by step. I started off batting with a bowling machine first and tried to adjust to a particular spot on the pitch from where I could hit the ball cleanly – be it drives, cuts or the pull. Once I was confident batting against the bowling machine, I started batting against the net bowlers, which gave me immense confidence. That is the reason I felt I am ready to go. I had a word with the physios and trainers here and they were happy with my fitness too. Now, I can’t wait to get back on the field.”
It has been four agonizing months, but Rohit wants to let that be passé. Instead, he just wants to get back to doing what he loves most – batting. “When you are injured and go through the process of getting match-fit and then comeback to playing ways, the injury will always be in the back of your mind. It cannot be completely off but I feel it is better to go out there and enjoy yourself. I am happy with the way the things have gone. I want to put the tough times behind and move ahead positively. I have missed the game for a long time and now that I am getting a chance to wear those pads and walk on the field, I want to play freely. At the moment, I just want to get on the field and see how my body feels. I am not thinking too far ahead. I am looking forward to going to Chennai and playing the two games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Rohit will be flying off from Bengaluru to Chennai on Friday and join the Mumbai team ahead of their game against Andhra on Saturday. The excitement was there to be seen. “I am quite excited. I am going to play a game after a long time. I cannot wait now. I just want to take that flight and march on to the field. I want to take guard and start batting. That is what I love doing and that is what I have missed all this while. I will be playing for Mumbai after a long time and it will be a great feeling to wear that Mumbai jersey and get back to the field.”
