Failure was hard to digest, says Mandeep Singh

The ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League has been a nightmare for Royal Challengers Bangalore. For their batsman Mandeep Singh, it has been worse. Many regular players in the RCB line-up like KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan were set to miss the tenth edition owing to injuries and fitness concerns. A door of opportunity opened for Mandeep. Instead of grabbing the chance with both hands, the Jalandhar-born batsman has shut the door hard.

In 11 matches, he managed to score just 188 runs with an average below 20. His strike rate of just over 106 was even more harrowing. To complete his dismal season, he picked up an injury. The MRI scan reports revealed a disc prolapse in the lower back. The doctors are suggesting Mandeep go under surgery, but the 25-year old batsman prefers rest and rehabilitation.

Lowest phase of his career

He termed this the lowest phase of his entire cricketing career. “It is certainly the lowest phase in my career. I hope to see through it soon and attain fitness,” he said. “It is not easy to bear failure with form. I was being moved up and down in the batting order and the form was not clicking. I was down in the dumps. I have had good showings for RCB in the past. The failure was hard to digest.”

After getting the MRI reports in hand, Singh consulted the physiotherapists at National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. As advised by the physio, Mandeep will undergo four weeks of rest and rehabilitation. He was demoted to the bench by the RCB team management after he failed to perform continuously in this season of the IPL. He has scored just one half-century in 11 matches.

Previous records

The Punjab batsman was the leading run-scorer in 2015 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He was the vice-captain of the Indian team that competed in the ICC U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. With 616 runs, he was the second highest run-scorer for Punjab in Ranji Trophy 2013/14. He was in a tremendous form for Kings XI Punjab in the 2012 edition of the IPL, where he scored 432 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of over 125.