Aswin seeks Balaji's guidance to overcome stress fracture

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu pace spearhead Aswin Crist had bowled 405.4 overs claiming 60 wickets in domestic cricket last season. It earned him a maiden call-up to the India U23 side earlier this year, but it also took its toll.

The 23-year-old pacer suffered a major setback when he was ruled out of action for a while with a “back stress fracture” following the completion of TNPL in August. The injury has ruled him out of TN’s first four Ranji Trophy matches of the season.

“I had an excellent season. I was itching to go out there and perform this time. And then I was shocked when I was told that I had a back stress fracture. I was depressed. Usually pacers suffer multiple fractures in the back. The good thing is I have only a minor crack and I was told the recovery process would be speedy. I will start bowling by this month end,” Aswin told TOI on Saturday.

Aswin had read a lot about stress fractures and how it has haunted many fast bowler in the past. Concerned about the injury, Aswin decided to seek the help of former India pacer and current bowling coach

L Balaji

, who made a comeback in 2008 after a career-threatening stress fracture which cut short his international career.

“I got irritated as I couldn’t play. That’s when I spoke to Balaji during a league match. He had overcome a worse stress fracture. He explained a lot of things out of his experience,” said Aswin, who suffered the back injury before the final of the TNPL.

“Balaji explained about how important the sitting posture is. From minute sitting postures to rest phase, Balaji has been guiding me on all fronts. He said about the angle in which my leg should be while sitting, how many days it would take to recover. He made it clear to me that I might feel fit but that shouldn’t tempt me to fast track my return. He advised me to take rescanning twice during my recovery and post recovery,” added the pacer.

Aswin, who was witnessing the TN-Andhra match at Chepauk from the stands, said he is in the process of understanding what caused the stress fracture.

“I’m currently undergoing rehab at the MRF centre. I seek the guidance of physios Thulasi and Sathish for training. I’m trying to figure out what was the reason for stress fracture. I picked it up in the off season. Thus my focus is to ensure my work load and training methods have the right balance,” he added.