Injured Nigeria’s women captain, Agazuma, targets May return

After being away from cricket activities for eight months, national team star, Samantha Agazuma, has set her eyes on a May return to action.

Agazuma, who captained the senior women cricket team to the Kwibuka T20 Invitational tournament in Rwanda in June 2021, was injured while fielding in Nigeria’s game against Namibia.

The injury kept the 27-year-old out of the women Yellow Greens’ team list released by the Nigeria Cricket Federation on Friday ahead of an International Invitational billed for next month in Lagos. The graduate of Economics, who was diagnosed of a ligament injury afterwards, said she has missed playing for the team.

“I have really missed them (the team). It’s difficult watching them go for tournaments and not being able to participate and contribute my part to the team’s success.

“Although, I am not letting it weigh me down… I don’t see it as a form of discouragement, rather, it is a source of motivation for me to channel my energy towards getting better.

“I am working with my physiotherapist and I hope to be back to cricket activities by May,’’ she said.
The right-hand batter reminisced on the incident in the match against the Southern Africans.

“I remember the match last year, while we were fielding, I was at long-off (a fielding position) and was chasing the ball to stop a boundary.

“I could not reach the ball, so I stretch out my left leg to stop it and I landed on it as well.

“I twisted my knee to the left, snapped it back almost immediately, tried going back to play but it didn’t work, so I had to leave the field.

“I came back to Nigeria, was diagnosed of grade three ACL tear, had a surgery in July and has been on the journey to recovery ever since,’’ Agazuma said.

The cricket star, however, added that the journey to recovery has been tough.

“Injury is very common in sports. This is the first time I have experienced a major injury like this that has limited me from playing for several months.

“For me, it has been very tough and I have been trying to push through, both psychologically and physically, but am hoping to come back stronger,’’ she added.

The player, who made her debut for the country in the bilateral series between Nigeria and Rwanda in 2019, also wished the team a great outing in the invitational tournament in March.

Rwanda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Cameroun and The Gambia are some of the countries expected at the event scheduled for March 26 to April 6 in Lagos.