‘Gym se body ban jayegi, bowling nahi’: Mohammad Shami’s only phrase that caused Mohsin Khan’s return | cricket news & more related news here

NEW DELHI: For Badruddin Siddiqui, Wednesday night was special. Two of his wards, whom he has coached since their teenage years, were bowling together for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) against the Delhi Capitals at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.Mohammed Shami struck with his first ball, removing KL Rahul. Mohsin Khan bowled a wicket-maiden, dismissing Nitish Rana, and had Player of the Match Sameer Rizvi, his Uttar Pradesh teammate, looking for runs. In his first three overs, Mohsin gave away six runs and Rizvi managed just two of the ten balls he faced. Tristan Stubbs managed four runs off six balls against the left-arm quick.

Mohsin was on top of Rizvi and Stubbs, but for Badruddin, it wasn’t his bowling that impressed him the most. On the fifth ball of the 12th over, the 27-year-old dived to save two runs from the third man. Mohsin’s effort forced Badruddin to jump off his couch.“Ab darr khatam ho chuka hai (He is no longer afraid),” Badruddin tells TimesofIndia.com. “If a fast bowler whose career has been marred by injuries takes to the field, it means only one thing. “He’s in top shape,” he explains.

After bursting onto the scene in IPL 2022, where he took 14 wickets in 10 matches with an impressive economy rate of 5.96, he came close to being called up for India but suffered a serious shoulder injury and did not play any competitive cricket for an entire year. He was not fit for the first half of IPL 2023 but made an excellent comeback, defending 11 runs in the last over against Mumbai Indians.In the last four years, he has had a career-threatening shoulder injury, a groin injury and the worst phase came when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee while playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

“Injuries are part and parcel of any fast bowler. But Mohsin has been a bit unlucky,” says Badruddin.Luckily, in all these frustrating years he has had Mohammad Shami on his side. Mohsin stays at Shami’s farm in Alinagar, Bihar.“Shami has helped him a lot from the beginning. It was during the lockdown that he started living and training with Shami at his farm. The results were there for everyone to see in IPL 2022,” says Badruddin.

Badruddin blames Mohsin’s lifestyle for his fall and injuries.“It’s his fault. He’s a talented athlete. But nowadays young people have this fascination with the gym and posting videos on social media,” he says.Badruddin shares a conversation that took place after last year’s IPL between Shami and Mohsin.

“We were having tea at Shami’s farm and Mohsin had just come out of the gym. I remember Shami’s words: ‘Mohsin miyaan, gym se body ban jayegi, nahi bowling(The gym can shape your body, not bowling),” laughs Badruddin.Shami’s stern comment left Mohsin in shock. “He was speechless,” Badruddin recalls.“A fast bowler must train on the ground. If you want to bowl at 140 kilometers per hour, you have to work on the field. Gym se bowling improves nahi hoti (Your bowling will not improve in the gym),” he says.Mohsin is six feet three inches tall and Badruddin feels his tough lengths rush batsmen more than Shami.

“Mohsin is tall and his ball goes up to the batsman faster than Shami. Tell me how many left-arm quicks can spin the ball both ways at 140 km/h and generate such a pronounced bounce. No one in India today,” praises his pupil.What Mohsin has done in the last twelve months is go back to basics. He runs, bowls and trains tirelessly, while Shami shouts from behind: “India khelna hai ya nahi? (Do you want to play for India or not?)”“In recent months he has also realized the importance of physical fitness. He is 27 years old and can play at most for five or six more years, but if his physical fitness improves he can extend it for two more years,” he says.

Mohsin has not only changed his lifestyle with Shami in these months, but he has also worked on his bowling alley.“He has worked on his wrist position. He has added a few more steps to his run. It has helped him pick up more pace,” he says.

But for Badruddin, in Mohsin’s return to competitive cricket in almost two years, the most satisfying part remained his fielding.“Aaj tak usne dive nahi maari vida mein (He had never dived in his life.) The good thing is that he is no longer afraid,” he says.See also: SRH vs KKR