Rashid: I had steroid injections to play in World Cup
Adil Rashid has revealed he would have missed last summer’s World Cup had he not been given two painkilling injections to manage a chronic shoulder injury.
The jabs, one a month-and-a-half before the tournament began and another a week before, helped the leg-spinner take part in every game during England’s march to victory, but he admitted the pain he endured was “upsetting” and believes he was lucky even to be playing given he could not lift a ball in his bowling arm at the start of the summer.
The 31-year-old, who took two wickets on his return to competitive cricket in England’s opening T20 tour match against a New Zealand XI in Lincoln last Sunday, said: “Even if my shoulder was falling off I’d have been keen to play. I had to find a way and the injection was the only thing I could do before the World Cup. If I didn’t take the injection
I don’t reckon I would have played a part because it was that bad.”
The Yorkshireman’s steroid injections, also known as cortisone, alleviated some of the discomfort but he was still severely restricted in terms of what he could bowl during the tournament. “Before the [first] injection it was painful,” he told the BBC’S Test Match Special. “I couldn’t lift my arm with the ball. The steroid injection helped by numbing the area but the actual pain is still there – just not to an extreme. “It was a bit upsetting I couldn’t just come in and bowl how I wanted to bowl in terms of pace, wrong-uns, variations. It restricted me but I had to find a way.” Rashid, rested for England’s second tour match against a New Zealand XI that took place overnight, was ruled out for the rest of the summer immediately World Cup.
It has been a long rehabilitation period yet Rashid used his time away from cricket to good effect, flying to the Pakistan-controlled area of Kashmir this month to help the relief effort following an earthquake on Sept 24 that killed 40 people and left 850 injured.
His efforts to help the charity Islamic Relief put his own injury problems into stark perspective.
“My parents were born there so Kashmir is close to my heart,” he said. “There was a lot of destruction and at the time I was doing my rehab so it was the perfect opportunity for me to go and see how bad the damage was and for me to actually give a helping hand.
“It does put things in perspective. after the That’s life and death. Our problems are playing a game we enjoy – you have a good day, you have a bad day but that does put things in perspective. There is a bigger picture out there than just sport.”
Rashid used his own money to donate relief packages to stricken families in Kashmir and handed out hygiene kits during his time on the ground. “There are a few projects from the UK helping out there I know and there’s one called Islamic Relief that I’m close to,” he said. “They were giving first aid and kit. So I just helped out – handing out kit and going around seeing the areas that were damaged.
“Myself being a World Cup winner perhaps helps with the profile of the charity but the aim wasn’t for me to raise the profile.”