Ankit Rajpoot hoping to recover from Typhoid in time for England tour

Ankit Rajpoot was one of the shining lights of the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) season. He played for the Kings XI Punjab while coming out as one of the best bowlers of the team. He picked 11 wickets in 8 matches during the tournament and was the only bowler to pick a five-wicket haul this season. He has also been picked in the India A side for England tour and is sweating over his fitness now after getting ill due to the Typhoid.

He also denied to bowl at the nets to the Indian Test team ahead of their game against Afghanistan in Bangalore for the same reason. But the 24-year-old seems to have recovered from his illness and is trying to get back into his groove. Though he is yet to hit the straps and would be doing the same soon with four-day matches in England looming.

I had to consider my health first

Ankit Rajpoot, while speaking to Sportstar, clarified that he had to consider the condition of his health first which was the reason he didn’t accept the offer of bowling to the national team at the nets. “I had typhoid and I couldn’t risk it. When the Indian team asked me to go to Bengaluru to bowl at the nets, I had to consider my health first. I couldn’t even report to the fitness tests. Now I have recovered but I haven’t started bowling yet. I wanted to take time. Typhoid has tendencies to relapse if you don’t take enough rest,” he said.

He also admitted his mistake of not taking the fever during the T20 extravaganza seriously and termed himself as careless. “I was casual during the IPL. I thought I was having fever due to tiredness as the tournament involves a lot of travel. I didn’t pay much heed. You can say I was careless. The fever was light and a paracetamol used to get me fit. I didn’t realise the gravity of the illness,” Rajpoot added.

However, he is trying hard to get back on the ground as soon as possible as the bord has given him the deadline of June 22 to prove his fitness for England tour. He is now planning to supervise fitness status by starting to bowl at the State Academy in Kanpur. “I will see if I am having any weakness while bowling. I will report to the board only if there is no weakness,” he concluded.

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