"Don't fight it. Just be in it."
That was Jasprit Bumrah's advice when Shreyanka Patil sought him out for a conversation while undergoing rehab for multiple injuries at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru (CoE).
What Shreyanka initially believed would be a short injury layoff stretched into a 14-month ordeal, marked by shin splints, a wrist injury and a fractured left thumb just as she was returning to full fitness mid-2025.
While Shreyanka fought through the physical pain, she realised the challenges were more mental. She had missed WPL 2025, the Sri Lanka tri-series and England tour, but the magnitude of having spent so much time away hit her all at once, when she missed the ODI World Cup at home. Set to return on the field in WPL 2026, Shreyanka, now 23, reflected on her setback.
"I thought it was just a one-off injury," she said on Wednesday. "I felt I'd be back in two or three months. I never imagined I wouldn't be on the field for more than a year."
"Once I started missing tournaments back to back, and then missing out on WPL, that was a big blow for me," she said. "Missing the World Cup hurt a lot. As a cricketer, you always want to lift that trophy."
But long before the World Cup came around, her perspectives began to change after the chat with Bumrah at CoE. While Bumrah spoke to her about the technicalities in great depth, Shreyanka felt a sense of reassurance when he spoke of how to bounce back from injuries.
"I had so many questions," Shreyanka said. "About bowling under pressure, about practising yorkers. Even though he's a fast bowler and I'm a spinner, I bowl at the death too.
"He told me 'this is okay, everyone goes through it.' He said I'm facing it at a young age, so 'don't fight it. Just be in it.'"
Those conversations, along with informal chats with fellow cricketers at CoE - Riyan Parag, Mayank Yadav, Asha Sobhana and Amanjot Kaur, among others - slowly helped her emerge from isolation.
"I wasn't talking to anyone at the start. I locked myself in a room for two or three months," she said. "That wasn't me. I'm usually very bubbly. But talking to people made me realise I wasn't alone."
What also helped bring some cheer back was a phone call from Malolan Rangarajan late last year, to convey the news that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were retaining her ahead of the mega-auction cycle. In her own words, her "mind went blank."
"No words can describe how I felt," Shreyanka said. "Someone who hasn't played for 13 or 14 months, and they still trust you and say, 'We'll back you because your skill is up there'…it gives so much confidence."
"I was overthinking before that. 'What if I'm not retained, which team will I play for?' All those thoughts were there. After the call, I rang Arjun [Dev, her personal coach] sir and just started crying. I didn't even know what I was feeling. It was just so much love and belief."
Shreyanka has been pain-free for a few months now. Having played in the Women's CPL and the domestic season for Karnataka, she has worked on a number of technicalities with her offspin, batting and fitness during a month-long conditioning camp at the private academy she trains at. With the WPL now just couple of days away, she's never felt more ready.