For me to break that mental barrier was quite pleasing says Morne Morkel on his comeback

Morne Morkel has been in and out of the South African team from the start of his career. However, in January 2016, the South African pacer suffered a huge blow. He got injured and that injury was a career threatening one as per some of the doctors. He did not believe any of them and worked hard on his recovering.

March 2017, Morne Morkel was back for South Africa playing in the first test against the New Zealand. It was tough for the 32-year-old as coming back from an injury that sidelined him for more than a year is not at all easy. There were so many doubts in his minds but he fought them all and came out of the test match without a scratch.

He said: “I was a little bit nervous because I hadn’t been on the field for longer than 50 overs. In the back of my mind, it was going to be a real test going for more 20 overs with the ball and 100 overs in the field. One of my biggest worries was that in Dunedin I knew it was going to be cold, so I was wondering if my muscles would recover. There were a lot of ifs and buts.”

He also said that it was quite necessary for him to break the mental blockade that the injury had built. Emphasizing on the fact that he has successfully played the first test bowling over 20 overs in an innings also picking up crucial wickets.

“For me to break that mental barrier was quite pleasing and now I can put those things to rest and just focus on cricket. All those demons that were on my mind, I managed to control it and get through it. I have that peace of mind that I can play Test matches again,” Morkel said while talking to Cricbuzz.

He was of the opinion that representing his country for as long as he can will be on top if his priority list. He said “I thought if I go well in this New Zealand series, then I’ve got four weeks at home to really get strong. For me, that was the important thing: to get myself fit for South Africa and to play well for South Africa.”

Morne is already looking forward to the Champions Trophy in England as he has opted out of the Indian Premier League in order to prepare for the same. “I haven’t played any cricket for South Africa for so long, if I put my name in the auction, it will be frowned upon, plus we have some big cricket coming in England,” the South African said.

He also explained the nature of his injury, stating that it was in the lower core of his back. It was weak as compared to the upper body and his movements were pretty uncanny which did not help. “The main issue was that my lower core was weak and in a way I needed to rewire my body, I had so many bad movements, mechanically with my body that created tension and inflammation,” Morkel explained.