Even as the Indian team sweated it out at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune, Manoj Tiwary was busy packing his bags after a week- and- a- half long stay at the National Cricket Academy ( NCA) in Bangalore to recover from a side strain which put him out of the T20 squad.

Initially out for close to six weeks, a quick recovery has ensured that Tiwary should be fit in four weeks’ time. But it will still rule him out of the series against Pakistan.

The Bengal batsman has had a history of getting injured at the worst possible times. Set to make his debut as one of the most promising newcomers during India’s tour of Bangladesh in 2006- 07, a freak shoulder injury during training sidelined him for close to a year from the international scene.

He looked to be in contention for the recent third Test against England, but ended up injuring his wrist.

If that wasn’t all, just when the selectors looked set to look beyond Rohit Sharma in the shorter formats, Tiwary got a side strain and had to be withdrawn from the squad for the T20 series against England.

He admits that the timing of his injuries was most frustrating.

“Injuries keep happening in sports, but the timings of my injuries couldn’t have been worse. Be it in Bangladesh, or ahead of the selection meeting for the third Test against England or at present when we have a packed T20 and ODI calendar. Every time when I have looked to cement my place in the team, injuries have played spoilsport,” Tiwary told M AIL T ODAY .

“But one has to move on and come back stronger as one can’t fight destiny,” he said.

Tiwary found the recuperation programme very boring. “It is very difficult to motivate yourself to keep doing them. But then you don’t have any option. What makes them boring is the fact that there are a number of exercises and they need to be done in low intensity as a result of which they take a long time to finish. The enjoyment factor is zero,” he said.

Tiwary feels he is one of the fittest guys in Indian cricket, yet he keeps getting injured.

“You speak to anyone in the Indian team or the management and they will tell you that I am one of the fittest guys around. Yet I seem to get injuries,” the 27- year- old batsman said.

Tiwary feels his near and dear ones have been really helpful during these tough times.

“Every person who loves you wants to see you succeed in life and it is the same with my family and friends. But they make sure that when I am around them, they don’t even discuss cricket because they know very well that although I might not openly show my disappointment, it does bother me deep inside. They help me keep my personal and professional life different,” he said.

While he returns to Kolkata on Friday, he will be back at the NCA after two weeks to undergo the final stages of his rehabilitation and then start training.

He hopes to be up and running in time for the ODI series against England.