Hyderabad: As Australian batsman Phil Hughes fights for his life after sustaining a serious head-injury on field, we are reminded of the unfortunate fact that injuries are part of sports. These are painful parts of their lives, often not easy to recover from. Players from various fields like tennis, badminton and cricket talk about how they cope with injuries and the support that is needed to recover.
Jwala Gutta: Since athletes or sportspersons are always involved in strenuous physical activities, the chances of their getting injured will be higher. How an athlete recovers from an injury depends on the sort of work they did on their fitness when they were younger. The harder you worked when younger, the easier it would be to get better when you get injured. More than anything, an athlete needs to know his or her body better. If they ignore the warning signs and keep working that muscle or that part of their body, they are bound to get injured. It gets much easier if an athlete can afford a good team of physios, trainers or coaches.
Parupalli Kashyap: An injury is always a physical burden as your body needs to recover from it. Every athlete or sportsperson needs a good team comprising a physio, a trainer, who can help reduce the burden psychologically. All they need to do is follow the physio’s instructions. If you get injured at an important time, which happens to many players these days, as every tournament is important, you are affected mentally. But we cannot let that affect our on-court performance. There is not much one can do except take it on the chin and work on getting fit.
Pragyan Ojha: When you get injured it’s totally a different ball game. That’s when your mental strength to make a comeback comes into play. First you will have to regain your fitness, then reach your peak and later try and break into the team from which you have lost your place not much of which is in your hands. You begin to understand the uncertainties of life.”
Sania Mirza: Injuries are the bane for all sportspersons and can cripple a sparkling career. I have come back from several career-threatening injuries and it’s a huge mental and physical challenge. I was fortunate to have the complete support of my family and this helped me come through. But life threatening injuries like the ones Hughes has so unfortunately suffered are obviously more traumatic.
