Out-of-favour India seamer Shivam Mavi has added that not playing for the country over the past few years has been difficult. His comments came before the IPL 2026 auction, scheduled for Tuesday, December 16, in Abu Dhabi as well. However, he has dealt with many injuries in recent years, including stress fractures in his back and a Grade II knee injury, but he has done well in domestic cricket whenever he has played.

During an interview with The Times of India, he said: “It’s actually quite difficult. When you play for the India and then immediately return to domestic cricket regularly, you start feeling that even after doing well, you’re still out, meaning you’re not getting opportunities. Then in domestic cricket, you start searching for answers, thinking what can I do here so that I can play for the country again.”

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“That’s what was on my mind, that during this phase, until I come back into the selectors’ view, how can I perform in such a way that I earn a chance to play for the country again. My focus was on identifying what was lacking and what I needed to improve to reach that level again. So I tried to tick every box, whether it was bowling, batting, or fielding. The idea was to keep performing consistently, because somewhere, somehow, I believed I would get an opportunity and make my way back to the top again,” he added.

However, Shivam Mavi also revealed that during his free time, he realized why he was getting injured regularly and worked on his bowling action to extend his cricketing career as well.

“The situation was that, first of all, I wanted to understand why I was getting injured and what was causing those injuries. So I worked on my bowling action during the time I had. I eliminated the side flexion that was leading to more injuries. That’s why you’ll see that I’ve been able to play regularly since last year, because I’ve improved my action significantly. I’ve made it much better, and whatever time I get in the future, I’ll continue to work on it so that I can prolong my career and avoid injuries.”