“COVID-19 recovery is like an episode of Man vs Wild,” says Lakshmipathy Balaji
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Lakshmipathy Balaji
Lakshmipathy Balaji has revealed his experience of recovering from COVID-19 for which he tested positive earlier this month in an interview with ESPNcricinfo.
The 39 year old bowling coach of CSK tested positive for the novel coronavirus along with batting coach Michael Hussey on May 3, 2020. The coaches were immediately shift from Delhi to Chennai for further treatment by the management. Subsequently the IPL 2021 was postponed by the BCCI amidst the second wave of COVID-19 in India consequentially the players from various camps contracted the virus. After a period of three weeks the Indian bowling veteran has recovered from the COVID-19 and had expressed his experience recently.
“On May 2, I was feeling a bit of uneasiness. I had body ache and a mild nose block. I was tested the same day. By May 3 morning, I had tested positive. I was shocked. I had done nothing to breach the norms to endanger my and the rest of the bubble’s safety. As I was isolating on my own, a thought crossed my mind: recovering from Covid-19, both physically and mentally, is like experiencing an episode of Man vs Wild,” Balaji told ESPNcricinfo.
Lakshmipathy Balaji on fighting COVID-19
One has knowledge of the impact which the contracted novel coronavirus create to our physical health followed by the test posed to our mental health by following quarantine. Hence Balaji finds it apt to describe his experience as that of one episode from Man vs Wild where several imminent dangers and challenges faced by the participants.
“Was I scared? Initially, I could not express my feelings. It took me 24 hours to sink into the seriousness of the issue once family and friends started to message. I started to get worried. From the second day in isolation, I realised I had to monitor myself, recording all the health data. I was obviously anxious,” he added.
“With the situation very bad in Delhi, the CSK management was proactive and flew both Hussey and me in an air ambulance on May 6 to Chennai where we had round-the-clock medical care. It was a crucial and timely step,” said Balaji.
Delhi has become the hotspot of India for contraction of COVID-19 as the city averaged above 22,000 cases on the first week of May. But with current imposition of Lockdown all over India, the graphs show significance reduce in the cases presently averaging 3,500 this week.
“Once in Chennai, the anxiety that had gripped us in Delhi had been replaced by confidence. Mentally we became positive. I started to constantly exchange messages with Hussey and we realised that many were in a dire situation outside. We were fortunate to be under better care. Eventually, I returned home on May 14.”
Lakshmipathy Balaji has featured in 8 Tests, 30 ODIs, and 5 T20Is during his playing career on behalf of Team India. His hardwork and expertise in the bowling sector had promoted him to the significant role of coaching the CSK Franchise bowlers, it is also pertinent to note that he himself is a former CSK bowler and has a strong bond with the management.
Also read: ‘I miss the guidance of MS Dhoni behind the stumps’ admits Kuldeep Yadav
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Pozhilan. M
(68 Articles Published)