Playing It My Way: My Autobiography (41 page)

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 would 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.

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.

One of the habits that we got into was that every time I felt that Sourav was tense or that there was something troubling him, I would say something random to him in Bengali, which is his mother tongue. Often my words made little sense but they were good enough to make him laugh. There was no doubt I was going to miss him. I remember trying to persuade him to carry on, but he was sure it was time to call it a day.

In the second Test at Mohali, starting on 17 October, I scored a fluent 88 in our total of 469 before falling to Peter Siddle, caught at slip. My timing was definitely coming back. In the process I passed Brian Lara’s tally and reached the figure of 12,000 Test runs. This achievement was marked by a fantastic fireworks display at the ground. It went on for close to three minutes and I felt privileged and honoured at the affection heaped on me. Mr Inderjit Singh Bindra, one of Indian cricket’s most distinguished administrators, who was then president of the Punjab Cricket Association, told me that there were more fireworks than the total number of runs I had scored. I felt overwhelmed. The PCA has always been a great host and is an institution that has made playing in Punjab that much more special.

From the start of Australia’s first innings, our bowlers were bowling really good lines and managed to put the Australian batsman under pressure. The ball was reverse-swinging and both Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma were making the most of the conditions. In contrast, the Australian bowlers had found it difficult to get their rhythm right and Gambhir, Sehwag and Dhoni had all made big scores against them.

To everyone’s delight, Sourav scored a hundred in the first innings. I couldn’t have been happier for him and remember how he celebrated what was to be his final Test hundred with a pump of his fist and then raised his arms to acknowledge the well-deserved applause.

The Mohali match is also memorable for me because of the catch I took in the Australian second innings. I was fielding at point when Simon Katich tried to cut Bhajji past me for four. He mistimed the shot and I had to dive forward to reach the ball. I managed to get both hands under it and it was great to feel the leather on my hands. Such a quick reaction put quite a strain on my groin muscles, but I got up unhurt and the relief was evident on my face. My hard work during the recovery had paid off.

It was also an important breakthrough for us in the game and we were able to get into the Australian middle order sooner than expected. Zaheer and Ishant bowled exceptionally well and it was perhaps the best I have seen Zaheer bowl. He was getting the ball to move late and the Australian batsmen struggled against late swing. It’s a shame Zaheer suffered so many injuries, otherwise I’m sure we would have seen his match-winning abilities on many more occasions.

We beat the Australians at Mohali by 320 runs and moved to Delhi for the third Test on 29 October leading the four-match contest 1–0. There we managed to keep the momentum going and were happy with a draw, thanks mainly to double hundreds in the first innings by both Gautam Gambhir and Laxman. I scored 68 and felt comfortable enough to believe that a big score wasn’t far away; I just had to be patient.

That Delhi Test turned out to be Anil Kumble’s last and it was an extremely emotional moment for us all. Anil was one of the biggest match-winners India has produced and we had played together for close to two decades. I was very surprised when he said he was thinking of retiring. He felt he was not bowling close to his best and was not able to give 100 per cent for the team. My argument was simple. Even 80 per cent of Anil Kumble was good enough for most batsmen and India still needed him.

I almost managed to persuade him to carry on but an injury to his spinning finger on the third day of the Test was the final straw. He had just recovered from a shoulder surgery and with the finger injury, which required eleven stitches, he simply couldn’t bowl. We carried him on our shoulders and it was a fitting finale for one of international cricket’s true all-time greats.

His final speech was very emotional for all of us and the crowd gave him a standing ovation. I’m glad to say we managed to convince Anil to come to Nagpur for the last Test to be a part of the celebration if India went on to win the series. It was only right that Anil should be there, because he had captained us in two of the first three Tests and had also been the captain when we played in Australia earlier in the year.

We started well at Nagpur on 6 November, with an opening partnership of close to a hundred by Sehwag and Vijay, but then lost two quick wickets. I managed to build decent partnerships with Laxman and Sourav, with a number of lucky breaks going my way. I was dropped in the eighties and nineties and I told Sourav that God wanted me to score a century on the occasion of Sourav’s farewell Test match.

In his final Test Sourav scored a valuable 85 for the team. We managed 441 in our first innings but I still felt we were 100 runs short. It was a good batting wicket and the Australians raced on in the last session of day two to finish at 189–2. We knew we could not afford to let them get away the next morning. We had to try something different to make them think and take some risks, because they were the ones under pressure to level the series. I suggested to Dhoni that we needed to slow down the game, and after that we employed an 8–1 field, with eight fielders on the off side and one on the on, something hardly ever tried in Test cricket, to Michael Hussey and Simon Katich, and despite dropping Katich early on we managed to restrict the runs. Zaheer and Ishant bowled well to the field and Australia just could not get away.

They added only 42 runs before lunch and Ishant also dismissed Simon Katich in the process. That wicket changed everything and we took a further three in the session between lunch and tea, conceding just 49 runs. The momentum had shifted and we knew we were back in control. We eventually set Australia a target of 382 in their second innings, and then Amit Mishra, the leg-spinner who had replaced Anil, and Harbhajan Singh finished things off midway through the second session on day five and we won the series 2–0.

The celebrations went on into the night and both Anil and Sourav were asked to give speeches. Gary, who had played a huge role behind the scenes, had organized the farewell at the VCA Club in Jamtha and it was a day everyone who was there will cherish for ever. The whole team stayed on in Nagpur for this very special occasion and I did the same, despite having to miss Anjali’s fortieth birthday. I knew that, as always, she would understand and pardon my absence.

1st Test. Colombo (SSC). 23–26 July 2008

Sri Lanka 600–6 dec (DPMD Jayawardene 136, TT Samaraweera 127, TM Dilshan 125*, SM Warnapura 115; I Sharma 2–124)

India 223 (VVS Laxman 56,
SR Tendulkar 27
; M Muralitharan 5–84, BAW Mendis 4–72) and 138 (f/o) (G Gambhir 43,
SR Tendulkar 12
; M Muralitharan 6–26, BAW Mendis 4–60)

Sri Lanka won by an innings and 239 runs

2nd Test. Galle. 31 July–3 August 2008

India 329 (V Sehwag 201*, G Gambhir 56,
SR Tendulkar 5
; BAW Mendis 6–117) and 269 (G Gambhir 74, V Sehwag 50,
SR Tendulkar 31
; BAW Mendis 4–92, M Muralitharan 3–107)

Sri Lanka 292 (DPMD Jayawardene 86, KC Sangakkara 68, SM Warnapura 66; H Singh 6–102, A Kumble 3–81) and 136 (TT Samaraweera 67*, TM Dilshan 38; H Singh 4–51, I Sharma 3–20, A Kumble 2–41)