“I had given up hope of playing cricket at one point because I was not able to even lift my hand,” Mohsin Khan

Following his match-winning performance for the Lucknow Super Giants against the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, left-arm bowler Mohsin Khan explained how he narrowly missed having his bowling hand amputated.

Following his match-winning performance for the Lucknow Super Giants against the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, left-arm bowler Mohsin Khan explained how he narrowly missed having his bowling hand amputated. 

On Tuesday night, Mohsin was tasked to defend 11 runs in the final over against a marauding Tim David and Cameron Green. Mohsin conceded just five runs, helping his team in winning the match and moving closer to a playoff berth.

In the last year, the speedster had surgery to remove blood clots from his bowling shoulder. The shoulder injury on his bowling hand kept him out of LSG’s line-up for the majority of the 2023 IPL season.

“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,”

Mohsin said at the post-match press conference, recalling the time he was battling the injury.

“I was not able to straighten it (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,”

he added.

The 24-year-old from Uttar Pradesh had a spectacular season last year but was injured this year and missed the entire domestic season and most of the IPL.

He was playing in only his second match this IPL season.

“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, and my nerve was blocked.

“But my association’s (Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association) Rajeev Shukla sir, LSG’s Sanjeev (Goenka) sir, my family helped me a lot. They gave their best, but still, I was struggling before and after the surgery.”

Talking about his plan in the final over, he said he was looking to implement what he did in training.

“Obviously there is pressure when bowling the last over, but I was speaking to the captain that I would be looking to execute what I have been doing during practice. So I followed that and backed myself,”

Mohsin said.

“I was not thinking that I have to defend 11 runs or 10 runs, my aim was to just bowl six good balls, and thankfully, it worked. I had confidence in my ability, irrespective of who I was bowling to, and the ball was also reversing a bit.” 

The team selected Saurashtra and India left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat as a replacement at the IPL auction last December after he was ruled out of the majority of the season, but they kept Mohsin in the squad.

Looking ahead, he said,

“I will try to keep myself fit and play as much as possible. I was with the team, doing my rehab and training.”As you are aware now, my father was discharged yesterday (on Monday) only as he had suffered a brain stroke. I had gone to the hospital to see him, told him that he would get well, and see me playing. He must have been very happy watching me play,”

he said.