Ahead of the historic Test against Afghanistan, Uttar Pradesh pacer Ankit Rajpoot had turned down the offer to bowl to the Indian batsmen at nets citing illness.
The 24-year-old Rajpoot was battling typhoid. He has recovered but he is yet to hit the ground running.
Having earned a call-up in the India A squad for the four-day games in England in July, Rajpoot is now trying his best get back to the groove.
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The bowler, who had a good season with Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, couldn’t identify the symptoms during the tournament.
“I had typhoid and I couldn’t risk it. When the Indian team asked me to go to Bengaluru to bowl at the nets, I had to consider my health first. I couldn’t even report to the fitness tests. Now I have recovered but I haven’t started bowling yet. I wanted to take time. Typhoid has tendencies to relapse if you don’t take enough rest,” Rajpoot told Sportstar on Thursday.
“I was casual during the IPL. I thought I was having fever due to tiredness as the tournament involves a lot of travel. I didn’t pay much heed. You can say I was careless. The fever was light and a paracetamol used to get me fit. I didn’t realise the gravity of the illness,” he added.
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Rajpoot is now planning to supervise his fitness status by starting to bowl as soon as he can at the state academy in Kanpur. “I will see if I am having any weakness while bowling. I will report to the board only if there is no weakness.” He has a deadline till June 22.
The ordeal, however, didn’t affect Rajpoot’s IPL show. The lanky right-arm pacer claimed 11 wickets in eight games, including a fifer against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“My main agenda was to come out as a wicket-taking bowler. I was trying to swing the new ball and get a few wickets early on,” said Rajpoot.
He even learnt a trick or two. “I had an issue with my wrist position. Ashish Nehra (former India speedster and bowling coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore) told me a few things which solved the problem,” he added.
As of now, Rajpoot has been monitoring his body temperature and waiting for the right time to hit the nets. After all, no player would like to fall ill before his first England tour.
“It has been fine for the last five or six days. There hasn’t been any abnormality. The symptoms have all gone,” Rajpoot signed off.
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