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After a heroic final over which saw him defend 11 runs for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI), the young pacer Mohsin Khan looked back at the tough times when he was facing an injury, which rendered him so helpless that he could not even lift his hand.
Marcus Stoinis's unbeaten knock of 89(47) and collective economical spells from LSG bowlers sealed a 5-run victory against MI at Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Tuesday. Mohsin reminisced about his difficult year, speaking at the end of the game. Mohsin had a significant shoulder injury and did not play competitive cricket for a year after taking 14 wickets in nine matches with an economy of 5.97 in his inaugural IPL season in 2022. "It was a very tough time and I had given up hope of playing cricket at one point because I was not able to even lift my hand, forget bowling. I was not able to straighten [my hand], my physio worked alongside me. It was medical related, it was quite scary, as the doctor had said if I was late by another month they would have had to amputate my hand," said Mohsin after the match. "Regarding my injury, I would first like to say that no cricketer should suffer this kind of condition. It was quite strange, my artery was blocked, my nerve was blocked," the bowler said. He also thanked the team and management for showing faith in him despite underperforming on his return initially. "I am also very grateful for the faith shown in me by the team. My last game was not good but they played me in this one. Especially Gautam [Gambhir] sir, Vijay [Dahiya] sir and the rest of the support staff, they showed trust in me and played me," said the pacer. Mohsin has played three IPL 2023 games so far and has taken two wickets. Coming to the match, LSG was put to bat first by MI and they posted 177/3 in their 20 overs. Pacer Jason Behrendorff and Piyush Chawla took three quick wickets for MI, dismissing Deepak Hooda (5), Prerak Mankad (0) and Quinton de Kock (16), reducing LSG to 35/3. Then skipper Krunal Pandya (49 off 42 balls) built a partnership with Marcus Stoinis but retired hurt before he could complete his half-century. Nicholas Pooran (8*) came to the crease to join Stoinis, who went on a rampage in the death overs. Stoinis scored 89* off just 47 balls, consisting of four boundaries and eight sixes. Behrendorff picked up 2/30 in his four overs. Chawla also took 1/26 in his three overs. Chasing 178, MI started well with a 90-run opening stand between Ishan Kishan (59 in 39 balls, eight fours and a six) and skipper Rohit Sharma (37 in 25 balls). Following the dismissal of two openers, MI tried to keep up with the run rate but could not do so as wickets kept falling. Tim David (32* in 19 balls, one four and three sixes) took his side close to a win, but they fell just five runs short. MI finished at 172/5 in their 20 overs. Ravi Bishnoi (2/26) and Yash Thakur (2/40) were the pick of the bowlers for LSG. Mohsin got 1/26 in his three overs and managed to defend 11 runs in the final over, giving away only five runs. Stoinis was given the 'Player of the Match' award for his knock. With this win, LSG has climbed to the third spot with seven wins, five losses in 13 matches. One match ended in no result. They have a total of 15 points. MI has slipped to fourth spot, having seven wins, six losses and 14 points after 13 matches. Both teams are still alive in the race to playoffs. (ANI)
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