3 ACLs, but Aravind far from finished

Express News Service

CHENNAI:  ACL. For an athlete, it’s the ultimate death sentence. There is surgery, reconstruction of the knee (sometimes), walking with crutches, learning to walk again, the months of rehabilitation and physiotherapy and an uncertain period of not knowing when you will play a competitive match again. For a sportsperson, who lives for the thrill of competition, an injury to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is the snuffing out the lights moment. 

Aravind Annadurai is deeply intimate with that moment. He has had three ACL surgeries, two on his right knee and one on his left. The 28-year-old underwent his first surgery after sustaining an ACL injury while playing at a local event approximately 10 years ago. Since then, he has had two more operations (in 2014 and 2018).

At the just-concluded senior basketball nationals in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu forward stood out with a series of solid performances, including in the final when he helped the hosts to the title with 25 points. During the tournament, he gave this daily a crash course on how he manages the knee. “If I strain too much, it will start paining again,” he says. “So have to do a lot of icing, recovery sessions, physio, strengthening. Keep activating those muscles, these days there are many loop bands so keep using those. You can keep at it with normal weight training.” 

He may be well experienced but Annadurai also suffers from something he calls ‘match fear’. Throughout his entire career — it’s now well into its second decade — he has felt feverish before games. “I have played for many years but still have that thing called ‘match fear,” he says. “On the eve of all games, I feel feverish. But once I cross that white line, I feel fine, no problems.” Of late, his knees are fine. That’s why he wants to have another tilt at playing for the national team (in the recent team in February, he was part of the final squad). “I think the Indian team (management and selection committee) are focusing on youngsters. But if I perform well here (at the nationals), I know that I can be part of that squad,” said Annadurai.

Full story: newindianexpress.com