Mumbai, May 8 (IANS): Chennai Super Kings pace bowler Chris Jordan has revealed how a double stress fracture almost ruined his cricketing career before he made a promise to himself to be more "diligent and meticulous with my body".
The 33-year-old Barbados-born England bowler hasn't quite hit his strides in the current edition of the IPL, having taken just two wickets in the four matches he has played so far, but his journey from the time he got injured in 2009, at the age of 19, till the time he was able to bowl again has been one of grit and determination.
"I think it was back in 2009. I had started playing for Surrey and made my first-class debut at 17 in 2007, and I had a pretty decent start, played five games or so. When I came into the team, they were in the relegation. Me, as the youngest guy in the team and I come in and had a decent end to the season and took 30 wickets in five first-class games," Jordan said.
"Then in 2009, I ended up with a double stress fracture in my back and I ended up out of the entire 2010 season. So, the entire season having to spend time on the couch watching cricket, watching guys progress and keep getting better and almost move past me in a sense," added the bowler who ended up playing eight Tests, 34 ODIs and 75 T20Is for England and taking 146 wickets.
Jordan added that he then took a vow to be more disciplined as a professional cricketer in order to avoid another career-threatening injury.
"Really, I made a promise to myself from that day that I will be so diligent and so meticulous with my body, with my preparations, having gone through that experience it made me a lot more disciplined and gave me a better understanding of the things that will take me to be a professional cricketer.
"After that double stress fracture, I reckon it changed my life because those types of disciplines and those things I had to do to stay on the park started to creep into everyday life as well, whether they are home whether they live with family, those same principles started to shape the way you view life and the professional I have become today," added Jordan.
Another CSK cricketer, 23-year-old off-spinner Bhagath Varma, who is yet to be included in the Playing XI, revealed how he battled depression and how the book 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari' motivated him.
"It could be my Under-19 season where I didn't get good opportunities in the one-dayers, and I was low and suddenly got picked. Over there, I was still low and depressed. I have read a book called The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. So, from there I started believing in myself thinking what I can do better than staying depressed. Performed well, got picked for the Under-19 Indian team. The book has changed a lot (for me)," he said.