I knew that this was not the end – Rasikh Salam Dar on his comeback from a double-injury

Being an athlete isn’t about embarking upon one of those straight roads where all you have are roses to admire. It is also about embracing the occasional lows that shape you into a stronger, more resilient individual.

For Rasikh Salam Dar, the road has been somewhat similar. Just when it felt like that it was going all smooth for the young pacer from the valley, injuries struck. As a young talent, he wanted to expedite the recovery process, but that didn’t go well either. Talking on RCB Bold Diaries, Rasikh opened up on that entire journey and how he was delighted to be picked by RCB.

Narrating when he hit rock-bottom, Dar said, “Life changes. It won’t run smoothly. Ups and downs will come. Whatever happened, happened. It was tough because if you can’t play cricket, it’s very difficult to leave it. I didn’t play for those two years. I couldn’t change that. It wasn’t in my hands. My focus was on just improving myself. Two years is a big gap, so I had a lot of time.”

Revealing how he used the recovery time, Rasikh added, “I used to focus on inswinging before and I used that time to focus on outswing. I didn’t feel like going every day but I went. I don’t think I had any motivation at all. There was no motivation. Motivation comes if you have a match soon, but I had nothing. But I knew whenever I came back, I would play. I knew that this was not the end.”

He did make a comeback soon only to be ruled out again with a back injury. As fate would have it, Rasikh got ruled out of the entire 2022 season after playing just two games due to a serious lower back injury. That is when Rasikh realized that he needed a change in his thought process.

Adding further, Dar said, “When I went back to play for my state, my body felt a bit rusty. The way my body used to move before, it wasn’t like that. That year I got selected for KKR. After playing for two matches, I got out again because I had a back injury. I felt that why was this happening to me. I tried to get better quickly. If a recovery from injury takes 7 months, I would try for six. After 3 months, I got injured again and that is when I stopped hurrying.”

He continued, “I said that if it takes 6 months, so be it. I will follow the process. How long can you sit with a long face? You have to be positive. I haven’t played for 2 years. Then just after 4 matches, I got selected in the IPL. That was a blessing for me.”

Revealing how he got picked for RCB and what followed, Dar said, “The auction came then. It was the mega auction. RCB picked me up. I was very happy to join. Working with Josh and Bhuvi felt completely different. I used to bother Bhuvi a lot with questions because I wanted to learn.”