‘This process, I felt…’: Shreyas Iyer reveals his comeback journey after serious injury

India batter Shreyas Iyer said he only realised the severity of his spleen injury picked up during the third ODI against Australia after being admitted to hospital, describing the ordeal as ‘excruciatingly painful’.

After that injury, Iyer made a successful return to action by making 49 in India’s ODI series opening win over New Zealand in Vadodara. “It was painful, excruciatingly painful. I didn’t realise how tough that injury was until I got to know that spleen is an important part of our body and it’s an organ and I didn’t even know about the word.

“Then the next day when I was admitted to the hospital, after that I realised, ‘Wow, okay, this was a severe injury.’ Yes, it was (spleen was learnt as a new word that day),” said Iyer in a chat with broadcasters ahead of the second ODI at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.

Shreyas Iyer on his recovery from injury:

Iyer also said the recovery process forced him to slow down and reflect. “This process, I felt that I had to give myself a little bit of time not to over-exert myself because I’m someone who can’t sit in one place. I want to keep doing one thing or another.

“But this injury especially gave me time to reflect upon myself, rejuvenate and also relax as much as possible because it’s not that you can get up and start working out straight away.”

“You need to give yourself a lot of time and I was told that within six to eight weeks, you will be back to normal and then you can start training. So I just followed the proper guidelines, which I was provided with and then after that it was a smooth sailing ride,” he elaborated.

Asked if he was going harder for big shots since his return, Iyer said it was instinct rather than design. “Honestly speaking, I’m not trying to do anything. It’s just the instincts. The more I practice in the nets, the easier it gets in the match. Even the nets, I don’t decide that I would be targeting a specific area or taking on the bowlers. I like to be in the moment and I’ve decided that if the ball is in my area, I’m going to take on.

“There’s no two decisions at a time. I think in the previous game, I was under that impression that I’m going to take singles now. In that process, my body also reacted a bit slow. So I just don’t want to be in that frame of mind going forward and this is my mindset currently as of now.“

With IANS Inputs.

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