Explosive batter Suryakumar Yadav missed three matches of the ongoing Indian Premier League for Mumbai Indians after remaining on the sidelines due to the injury he picked up during a T20I match against South Africa last year in December. 

Following the injury, Yadav underwent rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Opening up about his rehabilitation period, Yadav talked about the transformation he brought about to grow as a person. Yadav had suffered an ankle injury during India’s tour of South Africa in December, and was also diagnosed with sports hernia for which he underwent surgery in January. Suryakumar Yadav will be seen in action in MI's match against RCB on Thursday. 

"It's actually a little difficult to describe the last three months. It has helped me grow as a person and athlete. For the first two-three weeks. I felt very bored doing the same thing during rehab. From the fourth and fifth week onwards, I realised it is important going forward. It was very important for me to decide how I wanted to come back,” Suryakumar told the official IPL website.

"When I spoke to my wife, and all the people at NCA, they said it has to be the second version of yourself. You have to be a little different when you come back on the field. In terms of that, I started doing small things, like sleeping on time, following a good diet. That was most important,” he said.

"I never read a book in my life, but I started doing that as well. Getting up in the morning, spending good quality time at the rehab centre, focusing on everything, connecting myself, my brain and body with the rehab, it helped me really well recover faster because I had two-three niggles together, sports hernia, ankle and right knee. So, I had to take one step at a time, follow the small things and here I am, really happy to be on the ground. It is great to be back. Nothing beats the feeling of coming back to Wankhede," said Suryakumar.

"I wanted to be a better version of myself, when I got injured, I realised what were the things I wanted to work on. I got 2-3 months to work on myself in terms of fitness and on my body as well," he added.