Match drawn
Australia won the series 2–1
19
BOUNCING BACK
The 2008 one-day tri-series in Australia with Sri Lanka as the third team was a hard-fought competition. A lot of the tension from the controversial Test series that preceded it was carried into the limited-overs arena and the Indian team under new captain MS Dhoni were determined to return to India with the Commonwealth Bank trophy.
The pitch at the MCG on 10 February was one of the fastest I’ve played on. We fielded first and Dhoni was standing way back and still had to catch most balls at chest height. I was standing at slip, which was at the edge of the thirty-yard circle, an indication of the pace and bounce of the pitch. I remember mentioning to Dhoni, after an outside edge off Matthew Hayden’s bat flew past me, that the pitch was going to favour the fast bowlers throughout the match and no chase was going to be easy.
Our bowlers used the conditions well and dismissed Australia for only 159. Ishant bowled beautifully again to pick up 4–38 and Sreesanth also did well, taking 3–31. At the break our dressing room was buoyant, though we knew that their fast bowlers would enjoy the conditions just as much. Sure enough, in the third over of the innings Lee bowled a fast short ball that flew off the shoulder of my bat over slip towards third man. Just as I was completing the single, Lee walked up to me and casually said with a smile that he was feeling very good and was going to bowl really fast at me. Lee has always been a good friend and while it wasn’t exactly sledging, it was enough to fire me up. As he walked past I just muttered to myself that, come what may, I was going to take him on. It turned out to be one of our most memorable contests.
My chance came in the fifth over. Sehwag had just been dismissed at the other end, lbw to left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken for 11, and Lee was steaming in. His second ball was slightly wide but I still decided to go for a drive through cover. I connected moderately well and the ball raced to the fence. Lee just gave me another smile and walked back to his mark. I thought I knew what he would try next. He ran in fast and, as anticipated, bowled a fuller-length ball. I came down hard at it and hit it straight back at him. It must have been one of the most powerful shots I have hit in my life. Lee didn’t have a hope of bending down to stop the ball. In fact, the ball had reached the boundary by the time he finished his follow-through.
By now Lee was even more pumped up and the next ball was a 151 kph delivery, which I defended off the back foot. I was determined to keep attacking and I got another opportunity off the fifth ball of the over. It was full and fast and again I hit it back past Lee for four. While the first straight drive had gone to the left of the bowler, this one went to his right. Those two drives gave me a lot of confidence and I went on to make 44. When I got out in the twenty-sixth over we needed 64 runs and Rohit Sharma and Dhoni played well to finish off the job.
Immediately after the match, I started to feel some soreness in my adductors, the muscles in the groin, and informed John Gloster about the problem. We took remedial steps but the pain refused to go away and I was still feeling it when we played our last pool match against Sri Lanka on 26 February in Hobart. It was a game we had to win to qualify for the three-match final against Australia. Sri Lanka scored 179, with Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar both taking four wickets, and when our innings started I managed to connect well from the off and went on to make 63 as we knocked off the runs in thirty-three overs. It felt good to spend time out in the middle again after several low scores and I headed to Sydney for the first final relieved at having scored some runs.
While I was looking forward to the finals, I was conscious that the pain in my adductors was getting worse after every practice session. I was having problems with running, twisting and even bending down to pick up a ball. It reached a stage where in fielding practice I had to just stand at the stumps while my team-mates threw the ball in. With the final just a day away, painkillers were the only remedy.
CB Series, first final, Sydney, 2 March 2008
Before the finals, the atmosphere got a little heated again when Ricky Ponting declared that Australia would have to play only the first two of the three finals, as that was all it would take to send India packing. His comments only added to our determination.
Australia batted first at the SCG after winning the toss. It’s usually a sensible ploy to bat first in a big final, because even a mediocre score can be made to look good in a must-win situation. Australia made 239 on the day, with Matthew Hayden contributing 82, and we didn’t think it was a bad total in good bowling conditions.
Robin Uthappa was opening the batting with me and our first task was to see off the new ball. We knew that if the team batted our full fifty overs, we should win the match, and I advised Robin to be patient and not to be aggressive early in the innings. Being a naturally attacking batsman, Robin was itching to play his shots and at one point I had to get a little angry with him, telling him not to do anything rash. We managed not to lose a wicket until the eleventh over, when Robin played his first big pull shot to deep square leg, where Mike Hussey caught the ball low down. Robin might have scored only 17, but he had helped see off the new ball and we had put together a 50-run first-wicket partnership.
I sensed that the match would be ours if we kept our nerve. Unfortunately for us, we lost Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj within a few overs and needed another partnership to rebuild the innings. Rohit Sharma had come out to bat and I asked him to play straight and not try any fancy shots early on. He batted brilliantly and soon we were in a position to grind down the opposition. Rohit finally got out to the all-rounder James Hopes for 66, just after I had reached my century.
Dhoni came out next and we knocked off the 30 runs needed to finish the match quite easily in the end. The only scare was a beamer from Brett Lee that hit me on the side of my helmet grille and the top of my left shoulder. The ball had slipped out of his hand and could very easily have injured me. I felt a little dizzy and jokingly suggested to Lee that he would have to answer to my son Arjun when he next went to Mumbai. Lee knew Arjun well and had spent some time with my family when we had filmed a Boost commercial together. He apologized immediately and the matter was put to rest there and then. It was an accident, of course, but the shoulder felt sore and the area between shoulder and elbow turned black.
It was a very satisfying feeling to bat through the innings. It was a big match but we decided not to celebrate too much because the second final in Brisbane was only a day away and we knew it was going to be tough because of the high humidity.
I could not sleep a wink that night and ached all over. The pain in my groin had increased and I was starting to get scared. The next morning I could barely walk and it was an ordeal boarding the early-morning flight. In Brisbane I was given a long massage as soon as we reached the hotel. Seeing my condition, Dhoni suggested that maybe I should miss the second final and play in the third if needed. I said to him that ‘Sher jab gira hua hota hai use tabhi mar do’ (When a tiger is down and out, just finish it off. Don’t give it a second chance.) He agreed with me that it would be better to close out the competition in Brisbane if we could.
CB Series, second final, Brisbane, 4 March 2008
When we arrived at the Gabba we found that there was a lot of moisture in the pitch. It was bound to be difficult for batting early on and the obvious plan was to field first if we won the toss – but I urged Dhoni not to do so. I reckoned that the Australians might well want to bat first, preferring to bat without the pressure of chasing a target. I thought it would be better if we set a target, even if it meant struggling through the initial period of dampness on the wicket.
Dhoni agreed and we batted first. Again, I told Robin Uthappa in no uncertain terms not to risk a single expansive shot till we had played out the first ten overs. In those conditions not losing wickets was far more important than trying to score runs. Robin successfully held back and we survived the first twenty overs intact, giving us a s
olid foundation to launch an assault. We then scored at almost six runs an over and ended up with 258, a reasonable score to defend in the circumstances.
I was pleased to score 91, but by the end of the innings I also knew that my body was in bad shape and if we weren’t able to win in Brisbane I would be in no condition to play the third final. In fact, I was forced to leave the field in the fourth over of the Australia innings, when Dhoni dived to catch Hayden off Sreesanth and the ball ricocheted and hit me exactly where I had been hit by the Lee beamer.
Meanwhile our opening bowler Praveen Kumar produced a great spell and picked up three crucial Australian wickets. Hayden and Symonds then put together a big partnership and the stage was set for Bhajji to have the final word on Australian soil. First he ran Hayden out, following a misunderstanding with Symonds, and then just two balls later Symonds missed a ball that turned a long way and was trapped lbw. Unsurprisingly, Bhajji enjoyed his wicket more than any other.
The match wasn’t over yet, however, with James Hopes playing some aggressive strokes. In the end, Hopes was out last, for 63, but by picking up wickets regularly at the other end we had ensured that he was constantly under pressure. Nevertheless, the match was closer than expected and when the final wicket fell, Australia were only ten runs away from winning the game.
It was a great feeling to win, and seeing the tricolour being waved all over the Gabba was a terrific sight. We had beaten Australia in Australia and were also delighted to have proved Ricky Ponting right. He did not have to play a third final, just as he had predicted.
Grasping the nettle
My physical condition was deteriorating by the day. It didn’t help that the problem still hadn’t been diagnosed properly and I didn’t know exactly what I was suffering from. In any case, there wasn’t much time to do anything about it as the first of three home Tests against South Africa was due to start at Chennai a couple of weeks later, on 26 March 2008.
After getting as much rest as I could, I went to Chennai, and in the evening before the game had three injections in my groin. The doctors sounded confident that they would enable me to play the next day. When I got up the following morning the pain was substantially reduced, but John Gloster and I decided I should undertake a fitness test. I found I was able to run around during practice and also played our customary game of football without feeling too much discomfort. John declared me fit to play.
It was unlucky for me that South Africa won the toss and then batted for two long days as they compiled 540, with Amla making 159. Fielding in the heat quickly brought back the pain and when I finally batted on the fourth day I was so stiff and sore that I got out without scoring to Makhaya Ntini, caught by Kallis at second slip. At the end of the match, which was a high-scoring draw, I told Anil Kumble and John Gloster that there was no point in pushing my body any further.
I flew back to Mumbai and embarked on a process of rehabilitation under Nitin Patel, the physio of the Mumbai Indians, the IPL team of which I had been made captain. The first season of the IPL was just round the corner and my initial aim was to get fit for the first match. Despite all my efforts, however, I was only able to play the last seven matches, and even then I was not 100 per cent fit.
The lack of a diagnosis led to some unhelpful speculation. Apparently, one doctor in Mumbai suggested to a member of the Mumbai Indians management that the problem was actually in my head. I found out about it because one night Anjali asked me if the problem was really bad enough for me not to play. How could Anjali ask me such a question? I said to her that I had played with broken fingers and toes, and played days after my father’s death, so how could she of all people doubt my physical condition? It was not until the competition had finished that Anjali told me what she had heard from a Mumbai Indians official about what the doctor had said. Frankly, I was shocked, but I was also glad she didn’t tell me until the end of the tournament, because I was trying everything possible to get fit and play, and it would have been very upsetting to hear that.
Unfortunately for me, no one in Mumbai could diagnose the problem, despite the fact that I’d undertaken various forms of treatment. Finally, it was in London, when I was there for a family holiday, that I met up with my surgeon Andrew Wallace and explained my condition. He recommended Prof. Cathy Speed, who, on seeing the case history, immediately identified my problem as Gilmore’s Groin, or Sportsman’s Hernia, and referred me to Dr Ulrike Muschaweck in Germany. Prof. Speed also prescribed a few medicines and gave me some exercises to do and I felt in good enough shape to go to Sri Lanka with the team for the Test series in July and August 2008. I managed to get through the series, which we lost 2–1, without too much trouble, but before the start of the one-day series it was apparent to me that I had to do something about the condition.
On 13 August 2008, I left for Munich alone to get myself treated by Dr Muschaweck at the Munich Hernia Centre. It was a great revelation for me to discover this very specialized centre for hernia treatment. Dr Muschaweck was highly recommended by Prof. Speed. She has been specializing in hernia surgery for close to two decades and has developed some new repair techniques in recent years that have considerably improved the recovery process. She immediately makes her patients feel at ease and she was quick to assure me that there was no chance of recurrence once she had operated on me. To my delight she was proved right.
I had the first operation on 14 August and must say the pain was perfectly bearable. I had asked Dr Muschaweck if both sides of the groin could be done on the same day but was told that it wasn’t feasible because there would be far too much pain. Anjali hadn’t been able to accompany me initially because of Sara’s examinations, but she joined me on the evening of the 14th and I underwent my second operation on the morning of the 15th. I had insisted on having the two operations on consecutive days to cut down the recovery time, in the hope of getting fit for the Australian Test series. This time the pain was excruciating. Cleaning myself was quite an ordeal because of the serious pain in my abdomen and I wasn’t able to eat a thing. I was given a laxative and this, a sweet sugar syrup with a very nice taste, was the only thing I enjoyed having that night! I could hardly sleep with all the pain and was looking forward to getting back home.
It was an important operation and one that helped prolong my cricket career. It also draws attention to the lack of specialized sports science centres in India at that time. While I could afford to go to Munich and get myself treated by the best experts in the world, for other Indian athletes it might not always have been feasible.
I certainly knew I’d had a serious operation afterwards. I remember leaving the clinic on 16 August in a wheelchair because I felt dizzy every time I tried to stand. I also remember telling Anjali that I was about to faint when standing at the check-in counter at the airport and Anjali rushing to help. After landing in Mumbai, my friend Faisal Momen picked me up and for the first time in my life I asked him to drive as slowly as possible. I was frantically monitoring the road and if I spotted a speed bump I would lift myself a little with my hands to avoid jarring my abdomen.
As soon as I got home Anjali told the kids that for the time being they wouldn’t be able to give their father a hug. At that time, Arjun used to like play-fighting with me and I had to show him the bandages to make him understand that I was just too unwell. It was a difficult time for us all. I had already missed days and months of my children’s childhood. Now I was finally at home with them all day but was unable to play with them.
Once I’d got over the journey, I started the recovery process under the aegis of Paul Close and Paul Chapman. I did not go out for three weeks during rehab, as I was so tired from all my training, which would start at seven in the morning. I spent the second week of my rehab at the National Cricket Academy, and my training included strengthening exercises, cardio, pool sessions, running – both straight and sideways – specialized exercises with the Thera-Band, and a number of other drills. It woul
d end at around two thirty in the afternoon, following which I would just go home, have lunch and sleep for a few hours, completely exhausted.
The target I had set myself was to recover for the Test series against Australia that started in Bangalore at the beginning of October 2008. I knew it would be a race against time and I had a lot of hard work ahead of me. There were days when I would push myself so hard that by the evening I would just collapse on the bed and had no strength left, then I would get up very early the next morning and start my exercises all over again. Throughout this period, my group of friends, including Atul Ranade, Sameer Dighe and Jagdish Chavan, were always there to motivate me and would train with me all day. Their presence was a great help and I remain ever indebted to them for their support.
Australia in India, October–November 2008
It was a great relief to be back on the field for the first Test against Australia in Bangalore on 9 October. Australia made 430 in their first innings, with Ponting and Hussey both making hundreds, and we made 360 in reply. I scored only 13 in my first innings, but did better in the second innings before falling to the leg-spin of Cameron White. I scored 49 but, more importantly, I was able to bat for close to three hours and faced more than a hundred balls without feeling discomfort. The match was drawn and we headed to Mohali for the second of the four Tests.
The series had assumed greater significance because Sourav had announced that he would be retiring at the end of the fourth Test at Nagpur. Sourav and I always had a great rapport and we shared a lot of great moments together. As teenagers, we both spent a month at an Under-15 camp and were part of Kailash Gattani’s touring team to England. We played together for over a decade in Test cricket and opened the batting for India in countless limited-overs international matches.
Playing It My Way: My Autobiography Page 31