“I’d like to ideally play a game or two before the finals”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Kolkata Knight Riders batsman Chris Lynn is determined to make his comeback from a shoulder injury before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs.
Lynn injured his shoulder while fielding against the Mumbai Indians last month. The 27-year-old revealed that he felt his left shoulder pop out of the joint for approximately 30 seconds before he popped it back in by himself.
While it was initially thought that Lynn would be out of action for a lengthy period of time, scans showed that his injury was not as serious as first thought.
With his shoulder on the mend, Lynn is looking to return either against the Kings XI Punjab on May 9 or the Indians on May 13.
“The shoulder is slowly getting there,” Lynn told cricket.com.au. “I had a cortisone injection the other day and it worked really well.
“I’d like to ideally play a game or two before the finals. It would be a bit unfair on the team-mates to rock up into a final not having played a game [since the injury].”
Upon injuring his shoulder, Lynn was poised to return to Australia, but he opted to stay in India and work on his rehabilitation with Paul Chapman, who is part of the Knight Riders’ medical staff and the strength and conditioning coach of Queensland and the Brisbane Heat.
“We worked out whatever I could do back home, I can do where I am now in Kolkata,” Lynn said. “It only makes sense I’m here trying to get fit to play some cricket before heading over to England. There would be nothing worse than going in under-prepared to a world tournament.
“I’m going to have my first bat and I’m feeling really confident it about it. The shoulder has come up really well. It’s positive signs but I’ve still got a long way to go.”
However, Lynn conceded that he has to be a lot more careful about left shoulder, especially as he has injured it on three occasions in the last two years.
“I can’t keep affording to have this time off when I’m hitting the ball so well, it’s so frustrating,” Lynn said. “I think I might just have to be one of those fielders you hide in the field. But as soon as I start costing the team runs in the field, that’s when I’ve got to have a hard look at it. I think I can still contribute a fair amount with the bat and still be good enough in the ring in the field.”