'I was in pain for almost 7-8 hours. It was shocking': India youngster opens up on frustrating injury that sidelined him

India's 22-year-old youngster has opened up on an injury that kept him out of action for several months.

With the intense amount of cricket Team India is playing, injuries are more than ever and it is understandable. Playing three formats non-stop all over the world in a bubble-life can take a toll mentally and physically and the number of injuries that are being copped by the current crop of young India cricketers are proof of it. KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Hanuma Vihari… injuries have spared no one. In fact, Ravindra Jadeja was out for almost three months with a troubled shoulder before finally returning for the Sri Lanka series. Injuries are given with the rigorous amount of cricket players and teams play these days.

Team India players have been grappling with injuries for a long time now.  (Getty)

Even now, several players are out of the Indian team due to injuries. The most prominent example that comes to mind is Shubman Gill. In the last seven months, Gill has been left frustrated with a shin injury that has limited his India appearance. Gill first endured a stress fracture on his shin during India's tour of England last year, which ruled him out of the five-Test series. He recovered and regained his fitness before the injury resurfaced, side-lining him for another couple of months. Gill explained the extent of the injury and how much in troubled him in a free-wheeling chat, while stressing that he has finally left it behind.

"I have come out of it entirely now. It endured a stress fracture on my shin when we playing the World Test Championship final in England. About 2-3 days later, when the match ended, that night, I was in a lot of pain with my shin. I was in pain for almost 7-8 hours. I had no issues with my shin. I had never faced any problem with it whatsoever. It was quite shocking for me… to be in pain for 7-8 hours in the night. When I told the physio next day, they got an MRI done and that is where I found out that there’s a fracture in the shin," Gill told Sports Tak in an interview.

The 22-year-old was back for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, after which he featured in the two Tests against New Zealand at home in Kanpur and Mumbai. It was there that the stress fracture returned, forcing Gill out of the team again. It required intense training at the NCA for Gill to finally emerge out of it and is now looking to get some match practice and form heading into the IPL 2022, where he will represent the Gujarat Lions.

"After that we went for the IPL and there weren't too many fitness Tests so when we were playing Tests against New Zealand (in November-December last year), it reoccurred. In the first innings, there was quite a load while fielding because for a long time, there wasn't a Test match where we had to field for close to 130-140 overs, fielded almost for 2 days. Due to that, it began paining again. After that the physios decided that until and unless it completely heals, I won’t try to make a comeback. Else it will keep happening. I spent 2 months at the NCA and I am now completely pain free," added Gill.