A wounded lion takes a step back to leap further: Amanjot on her match-winning comeback

GUWAHATI: Injuries, setbacks and months of rehab have only sharpened all-rounder Amanjot Kaur’s hunger and the 25-year-old believes that, like a wounded lion that steps back before pouncing again, her long injury layoff was just a pause before a bigger leap.

Batting at No 8, Amanjot’s counterattacking partnership with Deepti Sharma rescued India from 124/6 under overcast skies Having debuted in 2023, Amanjot’s rare ability to bowl pace with effect and score freely lower down the order, made her a dependable allrounder.

But a stress fracture and ligament tear ruled her out for eight months, denying her a shot at the last T20I World Cup.Amanjot however set the record straight during the media interaction.

“Itna acha nahin lag raha tha (it wasn’t feeling very good). So I told sir (Amol Muzumdar) that if you’re looking at me for the World Cup, my body needs rest so that I play the World Cup fresh and not with a tired body.

“Mere khelne ka fayda tabhi hai jab (my playing makes sense only if) I stop some runs in fielding, score runs, and take wickets and shine as an all-rounder, otherwise anyone else can take my spot.”I felt my body needed rest, there was no injury as such. I felt that I should return fresh for the World Cup. She further conceded that the eight-month layoff earlier taught her more about herself than six years of playing ever did. For her, injuries were not “bad luck” but blessings in disguise.

“There is no bad luck. You can take injury as a setback. But what I learnt in those eight months, I didn’t learn in my entire six-year career.

“What I learnt about myself in those eight months, utna mujhe pehle nahin pata tha (I didn’t know that much about myself earlier).

The daughter of a Mohali carpenter and a woodwork contractor, she used the time away to reset perspectives and returned at the Women’s ODI Challenger earlier this year, impressed in the WPL for Mumbai Indians, and later starred in England with a match-winning 63 not as India won a historic series.Favourites for the elusive crown after two heartbreaks in finals, India were handed an early test but Amanjot remained unfazed.

And, in her trademark style, she brushed aside concerns about India being “in trouble,” having lost six wickets in seven overs to be 124/6.

“You can’t say India were in trouble, I was yet to bat,” she said on a lighter note.

“Itni jaldi result pe nahin aate (you don’t jump to results so early), 50-over is a long game. It may happen that 10 overs go in favour of your opponent and the next 10 overs you do well