Aswin Crist (centre) had missed most of the domestic season because of injuries
CHENNAI: For medium-pacer Aswin Crist, a Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka clash is similar to the India vs Pakistan encounter. A year back in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals against Karnataka, Crist ripped through a line-up that consisted the likes of KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Manish Pandey. His 6/32 helped Tamil Nadu bundle out Karnataka for 88 as they won by seven wickets.
Little did he know that next season, he would not be able to bowl a ball in Ranji Trophy due to injury. Crist’s absence and R Natrajan’s injury was one of the reasons for Tamil Nadu not qualifying for the Ranji knock-outs.
Having recovered from injury and back in the scheme of things for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the lanky speedster wants to compensate for the time lost. “That I am able to just run in and bowl makes me very happy. The period out of the game was frustrating. The first month was very bad, everything moved slowly for me. Gradually I gathered courage and changed my mindset. It was a good learning curve,” said Crist after practice at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
“I never had negative thoughts. I did feel that I lost some crucial time, but only during the first month. After that I went through the process smoothly.”
Tamil Nadu selector D Girish, who has been monitoring Crist, is pleased the way the speedster is bowling.
“Aswin looks pretty good. He bowled well in the VAP final. He is hitting the deck in the right areas. He has got the fire back. Rhythm will come once he gets to play more matches.”
Crist believes that apart from self-belief, a lot of people helped him during the tough phase. “M Senthilnathan helped me with my bowling at the MRF Pace Foundation. L Balaji at my club, physio Sathish and trainer Rajini contributed a lot for my recovery. I am thankful to them,’’ the 23-year-old said.
“I bowled well in the VAP final for Vijay CC.
But I have to take precautions for at least one or two months. My warm-up should be a bit different from others. It should gradually gain pace. I have not made drastic changes to my bowling. Only small changes here and there, which is normal,’’ added the speedster.
Crist regrets missing out on an IPL contract because of his absence from domestic cricket. Asked what hurt him more, he said, “What I regret more is having lost the opportunity to play domestic cricket and chances to play for India A, Board President’s XI and so on,’’ he replied.
Talking his team’s chances in the upcoming event, Crist said, “We have a good chance to do well. We will certainly carry the confidence from what we did last year. Mumbai, Rajasthan and Gujarat are good teams. I am confident our team will put up a good show.”
Ramji Srinivasan, trainer of the Tamil Nadu team, believes Crist has recovered well from his back injury and is raring to go.
ashok.v@newindianexpress.com
