3 Mohsin Khan performances in IPL that show he's exactly what India needs
On Tuesday, May 16, the Mumbai Indians (MI) were defeated by the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by five runs in another dramatic Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter. LSG advanced to the third position in the IPL table as a result, while MI fell to the fourth spot.
LSG scored 177/3 in their opening innings of play at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on a fair surface. Marcus Stoinis (89* runs off 47 balls) and Krunal Pandya (49 runs off 42 balls) were LSG's leading run scorers. With a strike rate of 189.36, Stoinis smashed a swashbuckling half-century that included four boundaries and eight sixes.
Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma, the MI's openers, put up a 90-run stand in response, scoring 59 runs off 39 balls and 37 runs off 25 balls, respectively. Yet in the middle overs, Ravi Bishnoi struck out both batsmen to put the brakes on the MI innings with a strong spell (4-0-26-2).
Tim David made a strong cameo (32* runs off 19 balls), but his efforts were undone by Mohsin Khan's strong last over. Khan bowled a fantastic final over to defend just 11 runs while bowling to power-hitters like David and Cameron Green.
On that note, let us take a look at THREE top spells by Mohsin Khan in his IPL career.
#1 LSG vs KKR, IPL 2022 - Mohsin Khan (4 - 0 - 20 - 3)
A match that is remembered for Quinton De Kock's scintillating hundred (140* runs off 70 balls), Evin Lewis' excellent catch and Rinku Singh's heroics, Mohsin Khan's spell proved to be the difference between the 2 sides. In a match in which both teams scored more than 200 and LSG won by just two runs, Khan gave away just 20 runs in his four overs at an economy rate of just five runs per over.
Young Khan, bowled an excellent spell with the new ball to dismiss Venkatesh Iyer and Abhijeet Tomar. The youngster made the ball swing early on and returned at the backend of the innings to dismiss the dangerous Andre Russell. Thus, Mohsin Khan's fine spell proved to be a match-winning one for LSG.
#2 LSG vs DC, IPL 2022 - Mohsin Khan (4 - 0 - 16 - 4)
Against DC too Mohsin Khan's miserly spell proved to be decisive for LSG in a high-scoring thriller. Chasing 196, DC managed 189 runs, handing LSG a six-run win. Mohsin Khan gave away just 16 runs in his four overs at an economy-rate of just four runs per over.
Khan also took four crucial wickets, dismissing dangerous players such as David Warner, Rishabh Pant, Rovman Powell and Shardul Thakur. He dismissed Warner with the new ball, provided the breakthrough in the middle-overs by cleaning up Pant's stumps and returned in the death-overs to send Powell and Thakur. He was awarded the POTM award for his excellent spell.
#3 LSG vs KKR, IPL 2022 - Mohsin Khan (3 - 1 - 6 - 1)
Chasing 177, KKR were off to a disastrous start courtesy of Mohsin Khan's brilliance as the youngster bowled an excellent maiden-wicket in the very first of the KKR innings. The left-arm pacer dismissed Baba Indrajith who mistimed a pull-shot. In his three overs, he gave away just six runs at an economy rate of two.
In nine matches of IPL 2022, he took 14 wickets for LSG at an economy-rate of just 5.97. With an ability to swing the ball when it is new and bowl yorkers and slower balls at the death, the youngster is surely a bright prospect for India.
With that, we complete our piece on three Mohsin Khan performances in IPL that show he's exactly what India needs. Can you think of any such performances by the young left-arm pacer? Let us know in the comments section below.