Coping, hoping and winning!

While India cricketers Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah are probably combating doubts and uncertainty as they recover from their injuries, the comebacks of past players must serve as inspiration

Two players who figured in India’s amazing 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy win will probably not play the full series of the next edition to be held on these shores next month.

Doubtless, India would have been more confident of denying Australia a rare series win in India (the Aussies have triumphed in India only once in the last 50 years), had Rishabh Pant not met with a horrendous road accident and back-troubled Jasprit Bumrah not sustained a new injury — right glute, — according to ESPNcricinfo.

Of course, as is the case most of the time when it comes to fitness related issues, the BCCI did not say much about Bumrah’s physical state besides “[He] will need some more time to build bowling resilience. This decision [to leave him out of the ODI series against Sri Lanka] has been taken as a precautionary measure.”

Sportspersons do like their share of privacy amidst enjoying the adulation, attention and admiration they get.

However, life can be pretty awful when an injury comes along, especially a serious one that gives rise to doubts about your future in the game. From my conversations with several players who have been away from the game through injuries, it’s not impossible to be optimistic, but it’s damn hard.

Pant and Bumrah could well be going through such emotions as they fight on.

Also Read: Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of ODI series against Sri Lanka after failing to recover from back injury

Dennis Lillee, the great Australian fast bowler of the 1970’s and 1980’s, overcame stress fractures in his back in 1974, after seeing multiple doctors. He was told by a doctor in Perth that he may not be able to bowl again.

In the closing chapter of his first book, Back to the Mark, he wrote: “Ever present in my mind will be the consequences of another breakdown.”

To Lillee’s credit, there were no more breaks from the game and he served Australia till 1983-84, ending up with 355 Test wickets - more than any other bowler at that point in time.

Injuries are part and parcel of the game so accept them, goes a cliche that is used as a comforting thought. But there is more to it than mere acceptance.

In 2005, I asked Sachin Tendulkar what made him overcome a plethora of injuries and he said: “I’ve worked hard for this and there are people around me who have worked equally hard. With their support, I feel extremely confident. It’s very tough, but with them showing me the light at the end of the tunnel, I get more determined.”

Malcolm Marshall, in the opinion of the most knowledgeable of West Indian pundits, the best fast bowler produced in the Caribbean, too suffered anxious moments. On his return from Australia in 1981-82, Marshall was clueless as to who he could consult to sort out his back injury. He had seen specialists in Australia and England, but his pain persisted. He took a chance and saw Edmund Sealey, a physiotherapist of the Barbados athletics squad.

In Marshall Arts, the late all-time great wrote: “As the treatment began to look as if it might be proving beneficial, Sealey prescribed for me a task of doing 100 sit-up exercises each day to strengthen the muscles at the base of the spine. It does not sound a lot but I can assure you 100 is hard work and I could feel the effects almost immediately. At the end of the month my back was much better and I began smiling again for the first time in four months.”

The 100 sit-ups were reduced to 50. But they had to be done each day of Marshall’s cricketing career which ended in 1992.

One of the most extraordinary injury stories is that of giant Australian fast bowler Carl Rackemann, who related his experiences with pain in an interview with me in 2000, when he was coach of Zimbabwe.

He admitted that his bowling technique predisposed him to injuries.

During the 1981 Ashes, when the touring Australian team needed him to bolster their injured pace attack, Rackemann couldn’t be roped in because he was injured while playing for Surrey’s Second XI. He came into the Australian team after Terry Alderman was injured by a spectator in the 1982-83 Perth Test against England. After making his debut in the second Test at Brisbane, Rackemann got injured and didn’t play the rest of the series.

The next season he claimed 11 wickets against Pakistan at Perth. After figuring in the next Test at Brisbane, he broke down. His final 10 Tests of his 12-match career were played over seven series.

He was part of the 1989 Ashes squad to England, but injured his knee in a warm-up match before the first Test.

“I should have been fit in three weeks but the guy who operated me turned out to be more of a butcher than a surgeon,” he told me.

Rackemann’s misfortunes even included injuries worsening because of unavailability of the right kind of tape to strap his ankle with. This happened while playing for Surrey in 1995.

At the end of our interview, Rackemann said, “Cricket has given me some pain but it’s also given me many, many good things. 

No complaints.”

That was easier to say in retrospect. At the moment, Pant and Bumrah are combating adversity and could well be in the throes of pain and self-doubt. Listening to an abundance of inspirational stories the willow game has thrown up, will do them no harm.

mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!