What’s the story?
Kolkata Knight Riders’ batsman Chris Lynn has recovered sufficiently from his shoulder injury and is itching to get back on the field as soon as possible. The Australian told cricket.com.au that he was hopeful of returning well before the knockout stages of the IPL and was, in fact, targeting the match against Kings XI Punjab for his comeback.
"The shoulder is slowly getting there. I had a cortisone injection the other day and it worked really well," Lynn was quoted saying.
"I was going really when I was playing, but it helps the boys are winning, that's got me through. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and hope to get back out there sooner rather than later," he added.
The background
The IPL got its first dose of ‘Lynn-sanity’ in KKR’s first match against the Gujarat Lions. The attacking batsman absolutely dominated bowlers in the match and was named man of the match for his performance. However, in the second game against the Mumbai Indians, he suffered an injury on his left shoulder.
The incident leading to his injury happened on the field when Lynn chased a high catch off Jos Buttler and landed awkwardly following a dive. He has been out of action since, nursing his injury and recovering.
The heart of the matter
During the three-week long layoff period, Lynn has worked extensively with KKR’s medical team and Paul Chapman (the strength and conditioning coach of Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat). He said that his left shoulder had popped out for a brief moment but he himself pulled it back in.
It was not the first time that he had suffered the injury and was aware of the timeframe for recovery. Fortunately, the scans had come back positive, showing that it wasn’t a serious injury and Lynn decided to stay with the team instead of returning home for treatment.
He also said that he would like to play a couple of games before the final and was hoping to return by next week. He is expected to hit the nets for the first time in three weeks today.
What’s next?
KKR play their next match tomorrow against Rising Pune Supergiant. However, Lynn is only hoping to return for the match against KXIP which is on 9th May.
Author’s take
Lynn’s return could be the end of experimentation of Sunil Narine as an opener (which has worked out so well for KKR). However, the team (especially, the batting department) will definitely be further strengthened.
As for the KKR fans, they cannot wait for some more LYNN-SANITY!
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