Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Deshpande learns his lesson from freak injury

Tushar Deshpande’s four for 28 against Madhya Pradesh earned him applause from all in attendance, including national selector Gagan Khoda.

Tushar Deshpande scalped four wickets on Sunday.

Tushar Deshpande was one of the stars of Mumbai’s triumphant Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign at the start of the season.

The fast bowler carried that form into the Ranji Trophy, and his six-for on a placid Karnail Singh Stadium track in New Delhi, got him on the national selectors’ radar for the India-A tours.

However, the pacer broke down in a club game and the injury recurred during Mumbai’s third Ranji game of the season against Gujarat.

Chanced missed

As a result, Deshpande went back to square one and lost out on a potential chance to make his mark for India-A and fetch the big bucks — and more importantly, according to him missing out on “playing the IPL, which is a huge platform — in the IPL auction.

The 23-year-old from Kalyan, a north-eastern town in Mumbai’s neighbouring Thane district, admits he has learnt his lesson from the freak injury which pushed him to the sidelines for more than a month.

READ: Shreyas ton helps Mumbai beat Madhya Pradesh

“I should be careful while planning in future. An injury can happen anywhere, but I have to be careful while playing maidan cricket,” Deshapnde told Sportstar after setting up Mumbai’s win versus Madhya Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

“It’s that one match that’s cost me a chance to play at higher grade and IPL. IPL is a huge platform and playing for India is the ultimate goal, so I may have to prioritise top-level First Class cricket over club cricket in future.”

Frustrating month

Deshpande’s four for 28 against Madhya Pradesh earned him applause from all in attendance, including national selector Gagan Khoda. The speedster admitted it was a frustrating month that made him realise how he needs to change his drills ahead of matches.

“I wasn’t feeling any soreness or anything in the body and the injury came in just a ball, so it was very frustrating. It was a shock to me but I overcame it in a month,” he said.

“I like to bowl a lot ahead of a match but if these things are hampering my fitness, I have to cut that down. Bowling at my pace, if I keep bowling in the nets a lot even on the eve of the match, it’s likely to affect me in the match; so, I have to take care of my body. Now I am developing a habit of quality training rather than quantity.”