Assad Fudadin, the Guyana and West Indies batsman says he is physically fit again after recovering from a broken finger and plans to use this final leg of the Professional Cricket lLague (PCL) 4-day tournament to score runs and help his country win the title as well as bat himself again into contention for the West Indies.
“I am fit but I still have work to do, I have not done any batting and bowling since the injury, just fitness work. It will be a very important leg of the 4 day for me, I will need to play cricket to get back in form to score runs for my country”, he told Stabroek News. The left handed batsman was giving his first interview following the finger injury which had put him out of action for the West Indies tour of South Africa.
“It’s not about playing for West Indies alone but it’s about doing well not only to get selected but to perform. I’m working hard and I’m aiming to play in the latter part of the 4 day tournament.”
Fudadin was recalled to the West Indies Test side for the South Africa series but did not play a match after breaking his finger during a fielding drill. The injury, he said occurred during a ground fielding session where he attempted a dive to his right, his right pinkie finger stuck into the ground and caused a fracture.
The surgery was done in South Africa. He has to visit the local specialists in the days ahead even though he has already begun his therapy, which according to him has been positive so far. Initially, the doctors had given him 6 weeks to recover.
The 29-year-old who played his last Test match for the West Indies in August of 2012 had batted himself into the favour of the West Indies selectors with scores of 39, 34, 19 and 103 during the West Indies ‘A’/Sri Lanka ‘A’ series last year. Fudadin said he was grateful for his international recall because it had always been his dream to represent the West Indies again at the highest level, but admitted some things are beyond one’s control such as the finger he broke during training.
“Obviously I was disappointed because I was waiting since 2012 to get back into the team, I was grateful for the opportunity but… accidents like that happen in sports. I think it was meant to happen, even though I might have felt hard-done.”
With the first 4-day match scheduled to start on February 6 between Guyana and Jamaica, Fudadin said although being deemed fit, he had not batted or bowled during the six weeks lay off after the injury, he has, however, been doing loads of physical training and exercises and will resume his on-field training this week with the hopes of possibly being selected for the remaining rounds of the competition.
The stylish opener said his road to recovery was difficult but has a positive end result for which he is thankful. “From then to now I’ve seen drastic improvement because I could not have lifted the finger before but now the mobility is better. It’s at the back of my mind that if the ball hits it again it can act up but my brain tells me to be careful and I have to trust it, otherwise than that I’m happy with the recovery I am thankful… everything is going fine and I can’t wait to start playing again”, a confident Fudadin said.
With 2015 still very new, Fudadin who has played 3 Tests and 75 First-class matches stressed the days ahead will be used to get himself back into playing form so he can contribute tremendously with the bat by scoring heavily for Guyana.
