Room bound for months, timely pep talk from Bumrah: Shreyanka recalls her injury rehab phase

New Delhi, Jan 7 (PTI) India all-rounder Shreyanka Patil feels she is starting all over again after a series of injuries kept her away from the game for more than a year, teaching the 23-year-old valuable lessons about life as a professional cricketer in the early stages of her career.

Shreyanka was simply overwhelmed with the sequence of events -- first it was the shin splints injury post the 2024 T20 World Cup, then came the wrist injury and just when she was confident of making a national comeback before the ODI World Cup at home last year, she broke her thumb.

Frustrated at not being able to get back on the field, Shreyanka locked herself in a room in the initial phase of the recovery but the support from family and timely interactions with fellow Indian cricketers, including Jasprit Bumrah, at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru made her realise that she was not alone in dealing with injury setbacks.

India T20 skipper Surykumar Yadav and Shreyanka's RCB teammates Asha Shobhana and Kanika Ahuja too were in CoE at the same time.

Speaking to select media ahead of the Women's Premier League, Shreyanka spoke at length about dealing with back-to-back injuries.

"Initially, I thought, okay, fine, it'll just go off in some time. But I wasn't prepared, as I mentioned. And then I had to actually start thinking about how I can come out of it," Shreyanka said.

"Because I had not gone through it before. So I had to come out with some answers, some solutions, be talking to people, just expressing how I'm feeling. I was not that open, though I'm such a bubbly extrovert. But I just couldn't talk to people. I just locked up myself in a room for more than two, three months.

"That was not me. But later on, I was like, how long am I going to do this? There was a question mark. That's when I started talking to people, not just women cricketers, but also guys who are there around the COE." Those conversations about the game and life in general with the likes of Bumrah, made Shreyanka feel a lot better about the phase she was in.

"Just some random conversation about cricket, about life, whatever it was. So that's when I started forgetting about my injury. And actually trying to feed my mind through positive thoughts.

"So yes, there were, I made a few friends over there in COE, mostly girls, so I know most of them. And then the boys also, they were like, Bumrah, Sky, Riyan, Mayank Yadav.

"Talking to them made me feel like, okay, I'm not alone in this. So I'm not the only one facing a lot of problems," she said.

Though she is an off spinner, Shreyanka was most excited about speaking to Bumrah, who has had his fair share of injuries in his remarkable career.

"When I got to know Bumrah is coming to COE, I was a little excited. I was like, I have lots of questions to ask. And then I went to him. And he being a very sweet person, he kind of said, Okay, let's talk someday. And then after a couple of days, he's like, Shreyanka, if you're free, let's have a chat. I was like, Oh, okay." "I had a few questions regarding bowling as he bowls a lot under pressure. I know he's a fast bowler, I'm a spinner, but I do bowl in the death overs too. So I wanted to ask him, how do you practice when it comes to yorkers? "Is it like you bowl to batters, you bowl to hitters, you just do spot bowling? I had those questions. And then he came up with some brilliant answers." Specifically on dealing with injuries, the advice from Bumrah will stay with Shreyanka for good.

"What he also told me was that this is okay, what you're going through, everyone will go through. You're facing this in a very young age. So just be in it. Don't fight it to just be in it. So that was a lovely advice from him, because he's also gone through a lot of injuries himself." Shreyanka made her competitive comeback with the Caribbean Premier League last October. After an incident free first outing, Shreyank got emotional and could not hold back her tears.

Those injuries prevented her from being part of India's triumphant ODI World Cup campaign at home. With the T20 World Cup scheduled in the UK later this year, she is bullish about holding the ICC trophy in her hands. PTI BS ATK