Rahul Dravid told Kamlesh Nagarkoti the comeback story of Pat Cummins to boost his morale

He is one of India’s potential fast bowlers who everyone thought would make it big. But Kamlesh Nagarkoti has been sidelined by injuries and have missed cricket for almost two years now. The soon-to-turn 20, however, has not lost heart and is fast approaching the end of the black tunnel.

The Rajasthan pacer is nearing the final stage of his recuperation and his mentor Rahul Dravid has told him the story of Australia pacer Pat Cummins who too was pushed into the wilderness by injuries but returned to become the No.1 bowler in Test.

Nagarkoti impressed during India’s Under-19 campaign in New Zealand in early 2018 but hasn’t played after February the same year. Dravid, the coach of that team, has been mentoring the youngster and he has boosted the latter’s psyche by drawing the comparison of Cummins whenever he has met him at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.

‘Rahul Dravid sir helped me get confidence,’ says Kamlesh Nagarkoti

“At the start when I got injured, it was difficult to come out of it. But, I would talk with Dravid sir, my coaches, and the motivation I used to get from them, small, small things… I used to learn. I wasn’t playing due to the injury, so whatever motivation I could gain by talking with Dravid sir, I took it and that helped me to get confidence,” Nagarkoti was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Elaborating how Dravid encouraged him during his injury days, Nagarkoti said: “When I was at the NCA, Dravid used to come and talk to me. He had told me ‘Pat Cummins too took 3-4 years to make a comeback (after suffering from injuries), so don’t think that you haven’t played cricket for about two years.”

Just keep your focus and wait for your chance and don’t get frustrated, don’t feel negative that you aren’t playing but your (Under-19) team-mates are playing. Everyone goes through such a time. Be patient and try to improve as much as you can, and during such a time you get the chance to learn a lot of things. Just wait for your chance,” he added.

Nagarkoti, along with Shivam Mavi, had surprised the cricketing world by generating some serious pace during the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand. Making it 140-plus kph was not unusual for the duo and soon they both got offers from Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

But it was all about misfortunes soon as Nagarkoti nor just missed the IPL 2018 because of a foot injury but also the domestic season the same year and then the entire 2019 because of a back problem.