Training sessions with Mohd Shami during lockdown helped ‘Gentle Giant’ Mohsin Khan

With
eight
wickets
from
four
games,
Mohsin
is
the
latest
among
the
group
of
rookie
pacers,
who
have
started
making
waves
in
this
year’s
IPL.
Badruddin
is
one
of
the
well-known
grassroots
level
coaches
in
UP,
having
groomed
the
versatile
Mohammed
Shami
during
his
initial
years.

“It
was
more
than
a
decade
back
when
Mohsin’s
elder
brother
Imran
used
to
come
to
my
academy.
By
then
Shami
had
moved
to
Kolkata
and
was
playing
Ranji
Trophy.
It
was
Imran
who
told
me
that
his
younger
Mohsin
is
interested
and
if
he
could
bring
him
for
training,”
Badruddin
recollected
after
his
ward
took
4/16,
including
wickets
of
David
Warner,
Rishabh
Pant
and
Rovman
Powell
to
win
it
for
Lucknow
Super
Giants.

Badruddin
remembers
that
initially
Mohsin
was
like
any
other
13-year-old,
who
would
at
times
be
a
tad
inattentive.

“Kids
of
that
age
would
be
like
that.
Suddenly,
he
is
bowling
and
next
moment
I
see
him
padded
up
and
taking
guard.
He
would
get
scolded
by
me
but
if
I
am
honest,
10
years
back,
I
never
felt
seeing
his
physique
that
he
could
become
a
potent
fast
bowler,”
the
coach
said.

“However,
his
height
shot
up
in
a
year
and
he
became
six
feet
tall.
His
game
went
to
a
different
level
and
he
started
working
hard
with
full
focus,”
the
coach
said.

Multan
Khan,
a
retired
cop
with
UP
Police
had
full
faith
in
Badruddin
since
he
was
Shami’s
coach
and
left
it
entirely
on
him
to
guide
his
son.

“Imran
unfortunately
couldn’t
continue
and
later
cleared
state
government
exam
and
is
now
employed.
But
their
father
left
all
cricketing
decisions
with
me.
Once
he
got
selected
in
the
Vijay
Merchant
Trophy
(U-16
Nationals),
I
knew
he
would
come
up
the
ranks,”
he
said.

In
fact,
just
like
Shami
left
for
Kolkata
to
face
the
bump
and
grind
of
tough
club
cricket,
Badruddin
also
sent
Mohsin
to
Kolkata
based
coach
Abdul
Monayem
so
that
he
could
arrange
a
first
division
club
for
him.

Lot
of
youngsters
from
Meerut
ply
their
trade
as
professionals
in
Kolkata
but
as
luck
would
have
it,
Mohsin
had
to
come
back
as
he
was
selected
for
U-19
UP
side.

“I
remember
Mohsin
as
he
played
in
some
practice
matches
between
club
teams
that
we
had
arranged
pre-season.
He
attracted
a
lot
of
attention
with
his
6
feet
3
inch
frame
and
would
release
the
ball
from
around
10
feet
after
jump.
He
was
a
fine
talent
but
he
had
to
go
back,”
Monayem
recollected.

Training
with
Shami
at
his
private
ground

While
he
has
been
primarily
a
white-ball
bowler,
in
2020
during
first
lockdown
post
COVID-19,
Mohsin
got
a
rare
chance
to
train
with
Shami
at
his
residential
ground
in
Amroha.

Shami
owns
a
proper
private
ground
at
his
native
place
where
he
has
developed
turf
pitches
and
along
with
Badruddin,
his
younger
brother
Mohammed
Kaif
and
Mohsin
trained
there
during
lockdown.

“It
was
a
very
small
group
and
I
had
called
Mohsin
so
that
he
could
train
and
learn
watching
Shami.
I
also
wated
Shami
to
have
a
look
at
him
and
give
his
feedback
as
to
how
he
was
shaping
up.

“What
I
felt
was
that
Shami
was
impressed
and
gave
him
a
lot
of
tips.
He
has
often
enquired
about
Mohsin’s
progress.
And
trust
me
you
have
seen
his
bowling
but
he
is
an
equally
capable
had-hitting
batter,”
Badruddin
said.

UP’s
most
potent
T20
bowler
of
late

Lucknow
is
not
the
first
team
for
Mohsin
as
he
was
picked
by
Mumbai
Indians
some
years
back
after
attending
trials.
It
was
learnt
a
senior
BCCI
official’s
right-hand
man
back
then
had
really
helped
Mohsin
get
a
first
foothold
but
MI
then
had
a
set
team
and
he
didn’t
get
chance
to
play.

Before
Vijay
Dahiya
joined
Lucknow
Super
Giants
as
an
assistant
coach
this
season,
he
already
had
worked
as
the
senior
UP
team’s
head
coach
and
already
had
a
first
hand
knowledge
about
Mohsin’s
talent
which
came
in
handy
at
the
auction.

Dahiya,
perhaps,
one
of
the
best
talent
spotters
in
the
country,
had
preferred
playing
Mohsin
in
one
of
the
games
ahead
of
the
seasoned
Ankit
Rajpoot.

“Apart
from
Bhuvneshwar
Kumar,
we
had
three
premier
pacers
–Yash
(Dayal),
Ankit
and
Mohsin.
In
one
of
the
T20
games,
we
gave
Ankit
a
break
and
played
Mohsin.

“The
extra
bounce
that
he
gets
due
to
his
height
will
always
be
an
advantage.
He
is
humble,
gentle
and
hardworking,
the
attributes
one
always
likes,”
Dahiya
said.

Setting
a
player
of
Pant’s
calibre
with
short
balls
and
then
a
dipping
fuller
delivery
showed
how
he
can
be
a
‘Director’s
Actor’,
in
this
case
a
captain’s
perfect
executor,
but
the
tougher
journey
will
start
now.

“The
challenge
now
is
to
remain
grounded
and
the
real
test
of
temperament
will
happen
in
this
tournament
itself.
Not
all
days
will
be
same.
A
game
will
be
round
the
corner
where
batters
will
go
hell
for
leather
against
him.
How
he
comes
back
will
tell
us
how
he
will
be
doing
in
future.
In
the
end,
we
all
have
our
future
in
our
own
hands,”
Dahiya
concluded.