Gooljar eager to bounce back

TRINIDAD AND Tobago leg-spinner Sanjiv Gooljar is anticipating a return to competitive cricket by the end of March. Gooljar suffered an injured knee during a practice session on January 26, a day before the Carib Beer Cricket Series contest against the Windward Islands at Shaw Park, Scarborough. After sustaining a damaged patella, his leg was inserted in a cast and he was advised to withdraw from the match for a minimum of six weeks. Even though it seemed like the injury will be a long-term one, Gooljar stressed, “Hopefully I’ll try to be back for 2006, if not to finish the Carib Beer tournament, to play with my club and try to get back in the flow.

“I wouldn’t force it,” he added. “I’ll just seek advice from my doctor.” Commenting about the recuperation process, Gooljar pointed out, “It’s coming along pretty okay now. It’s been a bit straight and I can’t do any bending or so,” he continued, “So I’m indoors for the next six weeks.” Gooljar, who was named Cricketer of the Year by W Connection Wanderers on Saturday night, stated that he is not undergoing any physiotherapy. “But when I take off the cast I’ll do about a week or two of therapy and try to get it back bending.” Looking back at the incident, Gooljar said, “We were doing a light warm-up before the game and it (was) unfortunate. The ball just came back off the inside edge and I didn’t really pick up the ball,” he said.

“I try to ‘breaks’ and stay out of the way but it hit me on the knee.” He played two matches for TT during its successful Carib Beer Series campaign, on debut against Jamaica at the Sir Frank Worrell Grounds, University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine campus and versus Guyana at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre. “The two matches I played in, I think I did pretty well,” he noted. “I must say, the support from family members, teammates and crowd support urged me on. “And it inspired me to do well and it was a good beginning for me,” Gooljar added. “Unfortunately my season had to cut short because of  injury.”