The promise and ache of Ashok Menaria

As KL Rahul sat dejected after India’s World Cup remaining loss to Australia in Ahmedabad, Ashok Menaria, his captain from the 2010 U-19 World Cup, equipped for yet one more home stint in the identical metropolis. Their profession paths couldn’t have been extra completely different. 

An India cap could now be a distant dream for the 33-year-old Menaria, however 88 First-Class and 103 List-A video games communicate of a distinguished profession in home cricket.

In the present season, Menaria has moved to Haryana, bidding farewell to his dwelling state of Rajasthan after 15 years. Despite not attaining the nationwide recognition he as soon as aspired to, Menaria expresses no regrets. He has accepted that donning the Indian colors on the highest degree could stay a distant dream for him. Now, in his new cricketing journey, he goals to benefit from the recreation within the ‘remaining seasons’ of his profession.

In 2012, Sunil Gavaskar recognized Menaria as ‘one for the future’ after his pivotal position in Rajasthan’s back-to-back Ranji Trophy triumphs within the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.

“Everyone looks at my statistics and tends to believe that everything was just fine around that time. Only I know what went through,” Menaria tells  Sportstar, sitting on the lounge of an opulent Ahmedabad resort.

Menaria watched the World Cup remaining on tv and cheered for his good friend Rahul. He had hoped for India’s ICC title jinx to finish beneath Rahul Dravid, who had captained Menaria throughout his time at Rajasthan Royals.

However, issues didn’t work out for India in addition to for Menaria in the best way he had hoped.

In the center of 2010, he underwent surgical procedure for Gilmore’s groin (acute or power groin ache) in Germany. However, after remaining out of motion for about seven months, Menaria made a robust comeback with a century towards Mumbai within the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy that season. He adopted it up with one other hundred towards Tamil Nadu within the semifinals, thus consolidating his place. His dream run continued within the remaining with a second-innings century towards Baroda, which paved the best way for Rajasthan’s maiden Ranji Trophy title.

He finally landed a contract with Rajasthan Royals within the Indian Premier League (IPL), however these days now really feel like a distant reminiscence.

With a wry smile, Menaria says, “People know that I had only a couple of surgeries, and I was fine otherwise. But that wasn’t the case. If I tell you the truth, I don’t think too many players have suffered as many injuries as me. Over the last 13–14 years, do mahine bhi aise nahi the where I was injury-free (There weren’t even two months when I was injury-free).

“Either my ankle was injured, or my knee or my shoulder needed surgery. I have been struggling. A lot of people say that one needs to improve on batting; back in those days, even I thought so. But yeh sab kar ne ke liye, you need to be on the ground, and you need to practise regularly. Main kabhi itni practise kar hi nahi paya, because half the time I was on the bed, under close monitoring of the doctors.

“It was not that I was injury-prone as a child. I have always led a healthy lifestyle and have never had junk food. I did everything I could to play for the country. But nothing worked for me. Throughout my career, I have played with pain.”

Before main India within the U-19 World Cup, Menaria captained the Rajasthan U-19 aspect within the 2008–09 Cooch Behar Trophy and Vinoo Mankad Trophy. He additionally made his debut in First-Class cricket for the state in the identical season.

In these days, when Rajasthan was within the Plate division earlier than it reached the Elite degree, Menaria progressively established himself as a dependable all-rounder.

“When you captain India U-19, everyone expects you to play for the senior team soon. I chased my dreams but when your body does not allow you to push beyond a point, you really can’t do much,” he says.

“In a competitive sport like cricket, it is not possible to stay away from the game for so long and then come back and be at your best. Even now, I am battling with injuries. I underwent knee surgery a couple of months ago,” he says, including with a smile, “Chal raha hai bas. Just when you think everything is okay, kuchh na kuchh ho jaata hai.”

In his youthful years, frequent accidents would usually frustrate Menaria, main him to ponder quitting the sport. However, with the help of his household and Anirudh Chaudhry, the previous BCCI treasurer and supervisor of the India U-19 staff in 2010, Menaria discovered encouragement to persevere.

“There were times when I thought, ‘If I can’t play cricket, then what will I do?’ Khel ke bhi kya karenge? Khel bhi liya toh do match baad fir unfit ho jaunga. Such was the mental space back then. But around that time, I spoke to Anirudh sir, and as a mentor, he guided me and encouraged me a lot. He gave me a lot of examples of former cricketers, and that eventually helped me change my decision,” he says. 

However, Menaria’s struggles continued unabated. In 2011, whereas taking part in for Rajasthan Royals, Menaria eliminated Sachin Tendulkar for his first IPL wicket. It was a big second in his profession, however the pleasure was short-lived as one other harm post-season stored him out of motion for an prolonged interval.

“Can you imagine? I could not play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for five seasons because of some or the other injury. Agar koi Mushtaq Ali Trophy hi nahi khelega, woh kaise aagey jaa ke IPL khelega? (If someone does not play Syed Mushtaq Ali T20, how will he graduate to IPL)” he says. 

“People often say that a player made a comeback. For me, every season is a comeback because I come back from long injury layoffs and then try to make a mark. Aisa hi chal raha hai (That’s how things are now).”

This 12 months, regardless of becoming a member of Haryana, Menaria couldn’t take part within the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy resulting from knee surgical procedure. Now again because the captain, he goals to make an impression within the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the current match towards Uttarakhand, he performed a vital position, remaining unbeaten on 44 as his staff secured a six-wicket win.

Menaria, now a household man, cherishes moments together with his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. With maturity, he has realized to deal with disappointments and failures, in distinction to his early twenties.

“When you are young, you tend to pay a lot of attention to what is being said about you. Many thought that money and fame got to me, but now that I know what I went through, those things don’t hurt me,” he says.

Chaudhry has performed a giant position in Menaria’s profession. He was instrumental in getting Menaria on board for Haryana this 12 months as soon as the all-rounder made up his thoughts to depart Rajasthan. “Whenever I was down, I would speak to him, and his words encouraged me.”

When he began taking part in the sport, psychological well being was extraordinary. But during the last 14 years, Menaria has realised its significance.

“In 2015, I was down with injuries again, and I squandered whatever limited opportunities came my way. Suddenly, one day, I started vomiting continuously. Initially, I thought it was a case of food poisoning. But after consulting with the doctor, we did all the tests, and nothing could be detected. Someone told me that it was a case of anxiety and depression,” he says.

“Of course, I did not believe it. I thought I was a cheerful, fun-loving, brave cricketer; how could I have anxiety issues? But tests revealed that it was indeed anxiety. I had to take anti-anxiety medicines for a month, and slowly I recovered. Those days taught me the importance of mental health.”

Menaria additionally confused the necessity for an alternate profession.

“I did not have an alternative. I had captained India U-19 in the World Cup, so things were different. I did not bother looking at anything else, and the whole idea was to play for India. But my journey has taught me that if you are a youngster and want to build a cricket career, it is a must to have an alternative, because not everyone will play for India U-19.”

As Menaria speaks, he remembers these days with Rajasthan Royals, when the late Shane Warne suggested him to avoid distractions. Dravid taught him the significance of self-discipline. Several accidents, setbacks, and eight,685 home runs later, his father’s teachings have helped Menaria stay centered.

And life, as he sums it up, ‘chalti rahe bas (life goes on)’…