CHENNAI: 2023 was a mixed bag of a year for Anjali Sarvani. She was part of the India squad that made the semifinal of the T20 World Cup in South Africa. During that tournament itself, UP Warriorz picked the left-arm pacer for Rs 55 lakh as her team made it to the eliminator of the inaugural season. In April, she even got her first central contract. As Sarvani and the India team were gearing up for their first appearance at the Asian Games, it all came crashing down as the Andhra bowler was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury.
"Injuries, well they just come and don't go away easily," Sarvani told this daily while reflecting on her time away from the game. "It was heartbreaking because I have missed out on the Asian Games and the two home series against England and Australia, especially two Test matches and the domestic season. A lot has happened over six months," missing out on these opportunities was hard but something at the back of her mind kept her going while she was recovering at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
"For the first two months, I was sad, thinking about not getting the opportunity to play. But then I realised during all these challenges I had become stronger. Because of this injury, I got time to build myself and work on my fitness. Instead of thinking everything is gone. I thought, well, I have WPL and I had the perfect time to be fit for it. All I was focusing on was getting better. I was working at NCA with good players. I had a different experience being in rehab and staying at NCA and, it helped me to be a little patient about things," one could hear that determination in her voice.
That patience she learned the hard way came in handy when she had to wait for her chance in the second edition of the WPL, where Australian international Tahlia McGrath was the preferred pace bowling option. Once she got the chance against star-studded Mumbai Indians, even when bowling the difficult overs, she held herself and took a wicket in her final over. The work she was doing with the bowling coach Ashley Noffke also paid off.
"Last season when I met Ashley I blindly used to trust the feedback he used to give me. Whatever inputs Ashley gave me were 100% on point and it gave me a lot of confidence in my skills. We didn't have much time last season because we just came from South Africa. The bowling unit had 2 to 3 days with him before getting into the tournament. There was a lot of learning from him and this season I am excited to work with him again," Sarvani said.
After a few discussions with Noffke, knowing her skill of swinging the ball keeps troubling the batters, Sarvani worked on being less predictable and added a few variations in her bowling. "A lot of international cricketers tend to get out for the inswingers. I think being a left-arm pacer is very rare for an India team because we see a lot of it in other teams where there is one left-hand pacer. It's an opportunity for me if I do better, I have a higher chance of getting wickets. I have to execute and be confident about my skills because we don't have to do something different. At this level, it is simple: stick to your strength and do that again and again."
While keeping things simple she knows how vital it is for her to add a few variations in her armory. "I think, variations are very important in T20s as the wickets are very flat. I have worked a lot on the variations in my pace and coming around the wicket and I've troubled a lot of players with my slower ones, Last season, I felt I was a little predictable, but this time I was working on that and I made sure that I was not going to be so predictable."
Apart from the international games and the domestic season, Sarvani's journey out of the injury shows the platform WPL is providing as a motivation for the players. It has not been easy for her, but for now, she is ready to pack the punch for UP Warriorz.