'My injury kind of expanded more and the question was that 'do I want to represent India at 50 per cent?'.
Hardik Pandya's bid to hasten his comeback towards the business end of last year's ODI World Cup game actually aggravated his ankle injury and in the process delayed his possible return by five months.
Pandya had twisted his ankle trying to stop the ball on his follow-through during India's fourth World Cup game against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19.
Initially, he had eyed a comeback during home T20Is versus Afghanistan but after a prolonged rehabilitation, his comeback vehicle turns out to be upcoming IPL -- a cash-rich league that catapulted the colourful Baroda all-rounder into instant stardom around a decade back.
"My injury was a freak one. It had nothing to do with my past injuries or my fitness. I tried to stop the ball and twisted my ankle. When I got injured, my injury from day one clearly showed that I would be out of the World Cup," Pandya said during a media interaction organised by Mumbai Indians in Mumbai on Monday.
‘Do I want to represent India at 50 per cent?’
Pandya was itching to make a comeback by semi-finals but his desperation proved to be counter-productive in the long run.
"We pushed but it would have been an uphill task that I would be fit for the World Cup semifinals or the final. When we pushed, it kind of triggered the injury and my recovery took longer (than expected)."
Pandya admitted that his urge to represent India half-fit during World Cup semi-final was unjustifiable.
"I had a recurrence. My injury kind of expanded more and the question was that 'do I want to represent India at 50 per cent?'. The answer was no, because India deserves better than that and I myself would not be able to justify the fact that I am coming (back) not completely ready," he said.
"From there, the whole focus was that that I will come back as soon as possible, but with injuries and something like the freak injury which I had, you have to give time.
"It is not something which goes away with physiotherapy, it is just natural body recovery which we need to do and obviously the whole MI thing came. I was sitting at home, working hard and this news came and it was even more special," Pandya added about his switch to MI from Gujarat Titans.
Pandya said he was back to full fitness around the time India played a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan at home, but did not have enough opportunities to play.
The all-rounder was recently a part of the Reliance One team at the DY Patil T20 tournament, which marked his return to professional cricket after a the lay-off.
"When I got fit, the Afghanistan series (had) just started. I have been fit since then (but) there were no games to play," he said.
"When I got injured, I had no clue how bad it was. When I went for the scans, it just showed just a little niggle which would be fine. But as a couple of hours progressed, it showed the real picture – my ankle was swollen.
"I straight away went to the NCA next day to fasten my process and make sure that I come back. Again, we tried every day making sure that I am available for the World Cup (end) and we had to take a call after the 12th day," he added.
Asked if Pandya will bowl in the IPL, the MI skipper replied in "affirmative".
Waiting for update on Suryakumar Yadav
Meanwhile, MI head coach Mark Boucher said the team is waiting to hear from the Indian cricket board on the fitness status of star batter Suryakumar Yadav.
"We are awaiting updates on Suryakumar from the BCCI. We have always been under a cloud of fitness issues but we have a world-class medical team. We may lose one or two in terms of fitness but we have to move on as it is sport," Boucher said.
It has already been reported by PTI last week that world's No.1 ranked T20 batter, who is recuperating from a sports hernia surgery, is likely to miss the first few games but his rehabilitation as far as World T20 is concerned is on track.
MI won't have a policy of resting players
Boucher, however, said that there would be no policy of resting the players keeping this year's T20 World Cup in mind.
"As the coach of Mumbai Indians, I am going to be a little bit biased and hoping to see my best players play all games. I have a soft spot for my players and I do understand that they might have niggles and that's when I will fall back on my medical team and work with them accordingly," he said.
Talking about Rohit Sharma, Boucher said the Indian skipper was "fantastic" against England in the recently-concluded Test series and hoped to have his rich form continuing in the IPL.
"Rohit has been in a fantastic touch. The way he was hitting the ball against England was fantastic.
“I am looking forward to seeing him go out and express himself. If he has a fantastic season, we will be there in the dying stages of the tournament," Boucher said.
