I remember one incident very clearly. We were in Australia and in one of the tour matches, I slipped and tore a thigh muscle. In those days, the Indian team did not carry their own physiotherapist. So, we had to ask the local state team's physiotherapist to have a look at the injury. He examined me and announced that since I had a torn muscle, it would take about three weeks of therapy and one more week of training before I would be able to play again. With the First Test Match due to start in just over a week's time, this simply was a blow that was too much.
As soon as this news reached my family, they sent me packets of Swami's Vibhuti through some media persons who were coming for the coverage of the Test series. These arrived just about three days before the start of the First Test. I was taking physiotherapy regularly but the improvement had been marginal. I could barely put weight on my leg to walk.
However after I started applying Vibhuti, there was marked improvement and on the eve of the Test Match, I requested the team management not to rule me out but to have a fitness test on the morning of the Test Match. From barely being able to put weight on my leg, I was able to walk comfortably in just two days. But there was a stiff soreness that was worrying.
On the morning of the match, I applied Vibhuti to the leg and went to the ground. This was going to be my first attempt to try and run in about eight days' time. Even as I stepped on to the ground to give my fitness trial, I realised that the stiffness was almost gone. At the Queensland Cricket Ground in those days, you had to descend a few steps to the ground and it was these few steps which were painful previously and I had to step down gingerly. But on this day, I felt confident enough getting down these steps normally and not the one step at a time as on the previous couple of days. I took a light jog around the ground and with every stride I could feel the soreness going away. Though I did not do anything silly like a quick dash or sprint, I felt confident enough to play in the Test and so informed the management who accepted it and included me in the playing eleven. It was unbelievable. Nobody including me had given myself a chance of playing the Second Test, leave alone the First Test and here I was, thanks to the Vibhuti, playing in the First Test Match.
~ Sunil Gavaskar ~
(To be continued)
No comments:
Post a Comment