Mohsin suffered an ACL tear while playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy last December
Shardul Thakur went unsold in the auction but will turn out for LSG in IPL 2025  •  Associated Press
Shardul Thakur is set to join Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as a replacement for Mohsin Khan. ESPNcricinfo has learned that Thakur, who went unsold at the auction ahead of IPL 2025, is currently with the LSG squad in Visakhapatnam, where the Rishabh Pant-led team starts its campaign with an away match against Delhi Capitals (DC) on March 24.
It is understood that Mohsin, who plays for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket, tore the anterior cruciate ligament tear (ACL) on his right knee on December 31 while playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy. While Mohsin had joined the LSG camp recently in Lucknow, it is learned he did not travel with the squad to Visakhapatnam.
The development will come as a setback for both LSG and Mohsin, who had survived a career-threatening shoulder injury after IPL 2022 but recovered fully and played the entire 2024 season. It is understood that Mohsin is currently doing rehab and will work with the LSG support staff to chalk out his route back.
Thakur and Shivam Mavi have been training with LSG since the franchise started its main preparatory camp recently in Lucknow. Both fast bowers, who have featured for several other franchises in the IPL in the past, did not find any buyers.
Consequently, Thakur, who had a successful domestic season with Mumbai after a foot surgery, signed as an overseas player for Essex to play in county cricket. It is learned that Thakur had already alerted Essex that he would take up the offer if any IPL franchise needed a replacement player.
LSG will consider themselves unfortunate considering none of their four first-choice Indian fast bowlers are currently fit. Apart from Mohsin, the trio of Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep are also unavailable. All the three fast bowlers are currently doing rehab at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
While Mayank continues his rehab for a lower-back stress injury, Avesh is understood to be recovering from niggles in his right knee that are believed to be workload related. Akash Deep, who last featured for India when he played the fourth Test on the Australia tour, is also recovering from stress injury in his lower back. There is no official update on when the three would be ready to make a comeback, but it is understood Avesh could be back in a week subject to him clearing fitness tests next week.
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo
