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A little over six months after he tore a tendon in his
thigh during the IPL, KL Rahul has called his return to Lucknow
“bittersweet” ahead of India’s World Cup matchup against England on
Sunday.
Rahul, who captains Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL,
pulled up while chasing a ball to the boundary during a defeat to Royal
Challengers Bangalore in early May: “My tendon ripped apart from my
quadriceps,” he explained last month. He spent four months out of the
game, missing the rest of the IPL, the World Test Championship final and a tour
of the Caribbean.
“I entered the ground today and I had to do some
running,” Rahul told BCCI.tv after India’s training session on Friday
afternoon. “I told my trainer, Rajini sir [Rajinikanth Sivagnanam] that my
heart is racing, because the last time I was here, I had not such a great
experience, or not such a great moment in my career. It was a bit bittersweet.
“That injury had, obviously, a huge impact on me
and my career. It wasn’t such a happy moment for me, for my family. I’ve been
through many injuries now in the little time that I’ve played for India. It’s
not a great feeling for any athlete to keep getting injured so often and to go
under the knife and to get surgeries is very, firstly, edifying – and,
secondly, very painful.”
That pain, Rahul said, is both physical and
psychological. “The most painful part is doing the rehab after that and
trying to get fitter and stronger, and convincing yourself that it’s not going
to happen again. It’s mentally very, very challenging. When it happened, it was
obviously frustrating. I was very angry at what had happened and started
questioning why and all of that.
“But I started seeing the best in what happened
much later when I was in Bangalore, and realised that it came at a time when I
really needed that break away from the game, because there was a lot going on
with me mentally – and, for the first time in my career, I felt like I had no
answers.”
Rahul is viewing Sunday’s fixture as an opportunity to
consign his association of the Ekana Stadium with his injury to the past.
“Obviously, I’m very happy to be back here in Lucknow and to change those
memories and to make some new ones and some happy ones,” he said.
“Obviously we play a very strong England team – they’re the champion team,
the defending champions – so, looking forward to Sunday.”