Pandemic a blessing in disguise: KV Siddharth

As the pandemic disrupted athletes’ plans, many of them were left twiddling their thumbs. But those nursing long-term injuries looked at the hiatus as a chance to go under the knife and recover without the pressure of a hurried return.

KV Siddharth has had issues with his shoulder since 2019, and couldn’t spare the time to repair it surgically. Instead, he used physiotherapy and played through the pain for the fear of missing out. A valid fear given how well-equipped Karnataka’s bench is across all formats.

“Personally, for me, the lockdown proved to be a blessing in disguise,” he says. “It gave me the time to get my shoulder (labrum tear in the right shoulder) surgery done (in May). I managed without surgery in the previous season.

“So, the break gave me the time to do my rehab and regain my fitness over four months. If I had got my surgery done in normal circumstances, I would have missed limited-overs tournaments during the season.”

Siddharth was alluding to the YS Ramaswamy memorial tournament and the KSCA T20 League. The Karnataka State Cricket Association, as soon as the government SOP was yielding enough, thought it prudent to conduct two limited-overs tournaments in the lead-up to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, starting January 10 in Bengaluru.

“How much ever we practice, nothing compares to going out there and competing in a match,” said the 28-year-old. “Since most of us played these tournaments, it has helped us to get into the competition frame of mind. Most of the IPL players too came back and played the league tournament.”

Without KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal (both on national duty) and Manish Pandey (injury), the two-time defending champions look lighter, even on paper, but Siddharth played down their absence while playing up their impact.

“It is a lot of responsibility (to perform in their absence). But their absence is a huge opportunity for us to showcase Karnataka’s bench strength. It gives a lot of youngsters a chance to showcase their talent,” he said.

“It is a huge opportunity for so many of us in the team to stand up for the count. That said, I’m not putting too much pressure on myself to perform because I believe it is very important for us to enjoy the game without the weight of expectations.”

The Karnataka squad has been in quarantine at the Golden Palms Resort in Alur since January 2 and will continue to remain in the bio-bubble until January 8. Sources in the team revealed that all of the results from the first Covid-19 test were negative, and they’re awaiting the results of the second round of tests conducted on Monday. Their third test will be on January 7.

Speaking about the bio-bubble, Siddharth said: “We have a programme designed. We are being monitored online. That helps us be in shape.”