Fitness only hurdle for Mohsin Khan’s India debut: Irfan Pathan

Former India pacer Irfan Pathan believes fitness remains the only hurdle between injury-prone left-arm seamer Mohsin Khan and an India debut.

The 27-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, standing at 6ft 3in, has been in impressive form, picking up nine wickets in his last four matches, including a five-wicket haul for 23 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.

Highlighting Mohsin’s ability to strike in maiden overs, JioStar expert Pathan said: “...whenever he bowls a maiden over, he always ensures to get the wicket of the batter. He did the same thing against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi last time and now against Tim Seifert; the same plan worked.

“When he dismissed Seifert, a run was taken through a leg bye, but Mohsin bowled well and took the wicket. He has bowled three maiden overs this season, and one of them was a wicket-maiden against a batter like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

“That shows the high quality of Mohsin Khan. If he manages to stay fit, no one can stop him from playing international cricket for India. His fitness is the only roadblock as he stays injured for long periods.”

Pathan, however, pointed to recurring injuries as a concern.

“It is unfortunate, but his bowling action puts a lot of strain on his body. A few seasons back, a hand injury kept him out of many games. Lucknow Super Giants supported him a lot during that phase and helped him recover,” he said.

“His left-arm angle is crucial, and his biggest strength is the extra bounce he gets because of his height. He always bowls economical spells, and when he bowls good-length deliveries, batters struggle to score runs.

“Mohsin Khan is the only bowler this IPL season who has conceded the fewest runs when bowling good length deliveries, and he is very stingy with runs, and that is his speciality.”