Injuries are inseparable part of an athlete's career and life but what happens when the injuries start defining your career, your identity and you as a whole. It is something the the India and Uttar Pradesh pacer Shivam Mavi has lived with in his short career. Injuries, re-injuries and what follows, the rehab and recoveries that don't seem to end had become an instrinsic part of Mavi's life and career, so much so that it saw him leave his franchise Lucknow Super Giants' camp even before the start of the IPL season last year after the damage happened in the training itself.
Fast-forward it 10 months later, Mavi is almost come through a successful, injury-free domestic season where he has had a couple of match-winning contributions in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for UP, played all three formats and almost bowled 15 overs per innings in three Ranji Trophy matches he played in the first phase. However, setbacks just keep knocking Mavi's door. As he started gearing up for what could be a positive period of his career, the 26-year-old didn't find any takers at the IPL 2025 auction.
It would be ironical if Mavi is called-in as an injury replacement, which he labelled it as unfortunate but that's how life goes. According to him he is ready but the journey to where he is now, wasn't an easy one. Mavi, who is currently playing in the ongoing Ranji Trophy clash for UP against Bihar added another four-wicket haul to his tally, spoke to India TV in an exclusive interaction on the spate of his injuries, IPL auction, being hopeful, domestic cricket, advise to youngsters getting frequently injured, rehab and changes he had to make.
(Excerpts from the interview)
Q. Shivam, you have had a good run in Vijay Hazare Trophy, started the domestic season well with Ranji Trophy, played in all three formats, how's the rhythm looking like, how are you feeling?
It's going good. Since the longer format was played before, the rhythm was in place, which was actually helpful. In T20s and one-dayers, the bowler is not able to focus fully on his lengths, especially in this day and age of attacking cricket. In Tests, the bowlers get a bit of time and hence, it was helpful to set the rhythm
Q. Do you think you're building towards something good, hopefully?
I have got back to my original rhythm, which I had before the injury. So, it's going really well for me.
Q. Did you have expectations from yourself before the start of a long domestic season, or are there any specific objectives, you want to achieve, especially since injuries have a way to find you somehow?
The goal always has been to do well in the opportunities I get and the matches I play. Since, the endgame always is hopefully, to play for India for 8-10 years. So, I focus on matches individually, take it one game at a time. I don't really focus on the result, so whatever is in my hands, what I can control is where I put all my energy into.
Q. Coming to the IPL auction... you had played a few Ranji matches by then, obviously you would have expected yourself to get picked but was there any bone in you that feared that it might not happen this year?
I think the number at which I was place in the auction, since it was a mega auction, 318, it can get a bit difficult. Since I am a capped player, Rs 75 Lakh was the minimum base price I could have kept, so that sort of played in my mind because you as a franchise are always looking for local Indian players but if you've already gotten your chosen players, then it can get difficult.
So, it was in mind but I didn't think I wouldn't get picked at all. I was injured and then got re-injured and maybe the franchises would have thought that my fitness would be an issue. A couple of franchises I spoke to before the auction, fitness was a concern for them but they told me to keep putting in the hard work and hopefully, next year and even this year, if unfortunately, anyone pulls up. But I'm ready.
Q. And eventually when the dust settled, what was the first thought and how did you keep yourself motivated?
Obviously, I was hurt. The matches were going on then, T20s so my only takeaway was that whatever opportunity I get next, I will give my best and try to give good performance for my team.
Q. As they say empty mind is devil's workshop, did you at any point have any negative thoughts came when the injuries kept happening frequently, during one recovery after the other and when you see players who you have played alongside in U19 or while growing up doing well?
The negative thoughts do come when you are on the sidelines for such a long time but I usually keep myself occupied by watching matches that are on or spend time with my friends. Since I was in Bengaluru for my rehab for most of the time, I was with my friends, so was able to get through that period without much discomfort. So I kept myself busy and didn't let any negative thoughts creep in because if you're doing nothing, it can get to you.
Q. Mohammed Shami recently said 'when you start to learn walking as a kid, you fall, you get up but you don' stop trying to walk'. As you mentioned that injury became re-injury and it would have been frustrating, so just wanted to know what keeps athletes going despite all the setbacks like what is for you now the motivating factor that keeps you driving?
If you're vying for success, failures are bound to happen. If this is a failure and I have gotten time to change things, my focus was on how I well I can utilise this time. So, after the domestic season [if I don't get an IPL call-up], I would work on my bowling and fitness during those few months and not waste any time.
Q. Shami also recently mentioned that comeback after a long time can get difficult because you're fearing even before running for the first time after the recovery...
On first few days, it does creep up [fear of getting injured again], that it doesn't happen again but once you get into a rhythm, it settles down.
Q. So what have you worked on specifically or what tweaks have you made to ensure that these frequent injuries don't happen?
I have worked a bit on my action and I need 3-4 months' time so that I can perfect my new action so that injuries are negligible, like they don't affect me in long-term or my career. So, I got these few months to work on it and I am able to play the domestic season quite well enough, without any niggle. So hoping, it stays that way.
Q. Obviously now getting back into the India reckoning would be your biggest goal, what were some of your learnings from your first India stint in 2023?
My biggest takeaway from the India stint that I got to learn a lot from the seniors, it happens in the IPL too but international cricket is a different beast altogether. The feel and the vibe is completely different. I got to learn a lot from Hardik bhai and Surya bhai. Whatever I played, it was a good experience and hopefully, I get to play a lot more in the future.
Q. You mentioned that franchises had a discussion with you, was fitness the only concern and did you tell them things you were working on?
The franchises don't get into too much details regarding action or other things but usually you get to know, you can see if a player is putting in effort or not. As a franchise, their main focus is only on one fact if the player will be able to play a whole season or not. So I am keeping myself ready fitness-wise, action wise, that is my only aim and it will make things a bit easier for me in the future as well.
Q. Last year, you were ruled out of the IPL even before the start of the season but you had the likes of Mayank Yadav and Mohsin Khan in the team during training. From your experience what would be some of the learnings that you'd want to pass on to them to avoid getting injured frequently?
It depends a lot on your action. If you are bowling around 145-150 km/hr, you have to be very careful about your action. You will be able to bowl fast but for how long? If your action is pretty good then you can get injured if the workload is too much. I have worked on this aspect too, in the past when the injuries have happened, my action wasn't all that clean and it started affecting me. Because in India, he domestic season is a bit packed and now there are state leagues as well, so it's important to work on your action religiously, keep it as clean as possible and you can get injury-free, at least that worked for me.
Q. You have played for KKR, you have been in dugout for GT and were part of LSG, if the call does come, do you have any favourite franchise, you'd want them to pick you?
From wherever I get the opportunity, there's no particular team in my mind. There are a few franchises, who try and groom youngsters, so it will be great if get an opportunity there [chuckles].
Q. You're playing all three formats in this domestic season and obviously now the directive of even the international stars playing domestic cricket. Obviously, that will be helpful to those players in some way or the other? How do you think domestic cricket will be benefitted from this and the youngsters who have grown up watching these guys perform at the highest level?
I think more the number of seniors come and play domestic cricket, the craze and hype automatically shoots up among youngsters. Obviously, the team they are playing for gets the much needed boost but I think it also inculcates a sense of importance of domestic cricket among youngsters as they also feel that it is being prioritised. The youngsters also get to learn a lot playing alongside them as they have played so much at the highest level. Like if they are stuck somewhere, they can ask for their advise to handle a certain situation better, whether in bowling or batting.