The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : A frustrating wait on the sidelines

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Thursday, Aug 03, 2006

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A frustrating wait on the sidelines

Principal Correspondent

Murali Kartik speaks about his rehabilitation process

— File Photo: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR

Murali Kartik.

Bangalore: Ever since his International debut in 2000 against the visiting South Africans, left-arm spinner Murali Kartik has found himself oscillating between the team and the sidelines.

A mere eight Tests and 30 one-dayers hardly do justice to Kartik's potential. The presence of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh besides a few injuries sadly ensured that Kartik never got a permanent slot though he did set up India's face-saving victory against the Aussies at the Wankhede Stadium with a match haul of seven wickets in November' 2004.

Shoulder surgery

However fate continued to conspire and Kartik soon had to undergo a shoulder surgery to remove a cyst, this summer. Kartik, currently undergoing rehabilitation, was at the National Cricket Academy along with L. Balaji, who is also on a come-back trail from injury. A touch of anguish did linger as Kartik spoke about his rehabilitation process and his bid for a comeback.

"There is no time frame for this (recovery). May be it will be nice to say that I will be okay in a month but it is never as easy as that. And as long as you are not 100 per cent sure then you are considered to be still in the early stages of rehabilitation though definitely I have come a long way in terms of the recovery process," Kartik said.

Self-doubts

Kartik, besides the physical process of recovery, also had to battle self-doubts that are inevitable to any athlete coming back from injuries. "I am feeling better but until you are 100 per cent sure, we cannot take a chance. But yes when you watch people play and you are not, then you do feel frustrated. For instance when your arm is in a sling after the surgery and you see someone throw (from the deep) you do wonder `did I ever do that thing or you think did I do anything wrong.' These kind of thoughts do crop up and that's the time you got to tell yourself `don't rush it, take your time," Kartik said.

On his current state, Kartik said, "I can even now bowl around 20 overs but that's not the only thing. Even before the surgery I never had a problem bowling but there are other things. Now may be I can bowl a bit gingerly but I cannot throw. Even before the team left for the West Indies, I went down to Mumbai and spent about ten days with physio John Gloster and did my rehabs. Anil bhai too called after the surgery and told me to be absolutely sure and not to rush things."Kartik and Balaji will be monitored by Gloster, trainer Gregory King and bio-mechanist Ian Frazer in the next few days that will also include a cricket-skills camp from August 6.

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