Mohsin Khan nearly lost an arm, but he's back to being Lucknow's enforcer

It didn’t seem that way immediately after the surgery, though. “When I used to try to lift my arm, it would just fall flat down on its own,” Mohsin says. “There was no power in the hand. I thought at one point my cricket career was over because my hand was not working at all. The triceps had no muscle. Now the muscle, as you see, is growing back, but if you compare it with my right arm, the muscle mass was significantly lesser on the left side.”By the time Super Giants started preparation for the 2023 IPL, Mohsin joined the squad, though he was not ready to play. According to Daga, the focus was to build on his running, bowling and throwing workloads and intensity, which all happened gradually.Eventually, about five weeks into the tournament, Mohsin returned to play for the first time since the 2022 IPL, against champions Gujarat Titans on May 7. He bowled three overs for 42 runs, picking up the wicket of Titans captain Hardik Pandya.”I was immensely happy,” he says. “Despite not playing a single practice match, I had played directly from IPL to IPL. I did not have an open net session [bowling to batters], but my team trusted me based on just two net [bowling] sessions I had prior to that match.”Mohsin’s IPL journey began in 2018, when Mumbai Indians bought him at his base price of Rs 20 lakhs (about US$31,000 at the time), impressed by his performance in the 2017-18 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.He did not play for Mumbai, but Mohsin had the privilege of working with former India bowling great Zaheer Khan, who was the team’s performance director at the time. For Mohsin, who grew up wanting to be a fast bowler from watching Zaheer on clips and TV, it was a dream come true, and he soaked it all up like a sponge.In the 2022 match where Mohsin bowled a spell to Virat Kohli that Ian Bishop remembers fondly, he also got rid of Faf du Plessis with one that shaped away to take the edge•BCCIAnother key mentor was Mohammed Shami, the senior India fast bowler, who is absent from this IPL, recovering from foot surgery. During the Covid-19 period, Mohsin trained with Shami at the latter’s facility in Uttar Pradesh. While the majority of the time there was spent focused on fitness, Shami also spoke to Mohsin about the importance of bowling lengths. “He suggested I pitch slightly fuller than the normal short-of-length delivery I bowl, especially against overseas batters, who are good at pulling or clearing the leg-side boundary.”When Mohsin joined Super Giants, former India opener Gautam Gambhir, was the franchise’s mentor-cum-head coach. “Gauti motivated me a lot. He said, ‘You are the only one who can make the impact. You don’t need to look at anyone. ball ‘ [When the ball is in your hand, you are king.]”The same kind of belief also came from Super Giants captain KL Rahul. “He is very cool,” Mohsin says. “I feel good and safe with his captaincy because even if I go for runs, he never says anything. “” is what he usually says.”In his first two IPL seasons, Mohsin largely bowled two overs in the powerplay, an over in the middle phase, and one at the death. But this season Rahul has used Mohsin more as a go-to bowler. In the match against Rajasthan Royals, he let Mohsin have three overs on the trot, which resulted in the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal. “Based on the game’s necessity in the situation, Rahul uses me,” Mohsin says.Bowling regularly in high-pressure situations as he does, Mohsin’s go-to delivery remains the slower delivery, he says. Harshal Patel, the Punjab Kings seamer who has a number of variations in his armoury, says a bowler needs lots of courage to execute the slower ball, and Mohsin agrees. “There are chances of getting hit, but my confidence is always high with the slower ball. It has given me the majority of my wickets in IPL, because with my pace and bounce, the ball can grip or stop, and that gives me an advantage.”Harshal says he has seen Mohsin evolve over the last three IPL seasons. “That’s how I judge new fast bowlers – is he constantly trying to build his repertoire or is he just going with the flow? Until last year I didn’t see him bowling yorkers. It was more into-the-pitch and cutters and all that. This season I saw the brilliant yorker with which he got Nehal Wadhera [Mumbai Indians], who was hanging back and not expecting it. The ball snuck under his bat and bowled him.””Where I am at the moment, I am just thinking about that. I am doing what is in my hands”•BCCIESPNcricinfo’s data shows that Mohsin bowled two yorkers in the 2022 IPL, three last year, and five so far this season – not enough to draw too many conclusions from, but that last number will likely go up, given LSG have at least two matches to go, and Mohsin is still working his way back up to full fitness.Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop was impressed by Mohsin’s talent when he saw him in the 2022 IPL. “What stood out was his ability at his very best to bowl the hard length,” Bishop says, “to get the ball to deviate as well, and to be able to hit that good length.”I remember a spell, I think it was to Virat Kohli [in the Eliminator], where Mohsin just banged the ball in on a good length with enough movement that it was problematic to get away.”In that year’s IPL, in nine matches, Mohsin took seven wickets with the ball banged in back of a length or short, at an economy of just 6.11. His economy rate for balls in those categories spiked to 10.83 in the four matches he played in 2023, when he was fresh off his surgery, and he took two wickets with those deliveries. This season it has been 10.76 with six wickets in eight matches.Once Mohsin is back to peak fitness, Bishop is looking forward to him getting back to the bowler he was two years ago. “There are times this season when he’s been good but in 2022 he was very impressive.”Mohsin was forced to sit out Super Giants’ last match, against Sunrirsers Hyderabad last week, as a precaution, having left the field after hitting his head while fielding in the previous game, against Kolkata Knight Riders.This season has been an expensive one for him. He has predominantly bowled in the powerplay, where in 16 overs in his six games, his economy has been 8.87; he has taken five of his nine wickets so far in the powerplay. But at the death, where he was lethal in his debut season, Mohsin now ranks fourth-worst, in terms of economy, among 21 bowlers who have bowled at least eight overs apiece at the death this season: 12.44 runs per over, with three wickets. If there’s any consolation, it is that the bowlers above him on that list are seasoned pros: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (14.30), Sam Curran (12.90) and Arshdeep Singh (12.72).Mohsin’s best performance in his debut IPL season came against KKR: 3 for 20, where he got rid of both opening batters•BCCI”I always think, ‘Kar loonga’ [I’ll get it done]. I try and stay positive in such moments,” he says. “Just because I am getting hit for runs I shouldn’t feel I am in a hopeless situation. run run . Wicket ” [If runs are scored, so be it. If a wicket is to come, it will].In Super Giants’ first match this IPL, against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, Sanju Samson hit him for a four and a six in his first three balls of the fifth over. On the penultimate delivery of that over, Yashasvi Jaiswal paddled a six over fine leg. Mohsin dug the final ball of the over in hard short of a length, rushing Jaiswal into top-edging a easy catch. “The wicket was good for batting and my bowling was a bit all over the place,” Mohsin says. “Then I returned to my strength, which is back of length, and bowled with bit more pace and bounce and he [Jaiswal] was beaten.”Before execution, it is important to understand bowling plans, Mohsin says. “If the mind is clear and you are communicating clearly with the captain and coaches, things become easy. Getting a wicket is different, but at least if you are not deviating from the plan, you will bowl better most times.”His shoulder injury likely cost Mohsin a spot in India’s 2022 World Cup squad. The selectors thought his high point of release, ability to hit hard lengths at will, and ability to quickly size a batter up and respond with the right variations would have made him valuable on pitches in Australia, where the tournament was held.Two years on from his breakthrough IPL, Mohsin doesn’t once during our chat mention playing for India. He is fully aware he is still getting back to where he was, in terms of the strength in his left arm. The fear of whether the injury will return each time he feels any pain in that arm or shoulder will take its time fading, Daga says.”I just want to play well,” Mohsin says about playing for India. “Wherever I play, I just ensure that I do my best for the team. Where I am at the moment, I am just thinking about that. I am doing what is in my hands,” he says. He looks up. “.” [The rest is in the hands of the almighty, what level I get to, what I do, and all that.]Stats inputs by S Rajesh