Chris Lynn on course to be available for KKR's first IPL game

Explosive batsman Chris Lynn has had a lot of injury issues over the last two-three years that have forced him out of many major tournaments. He has had three major injuries on his left shoulder in two years, which have taken a toll on the right-hander- both mentally and physically.

But, despite an injury-plagued IPL season last year, he was able to have a tremendous impact on the KKR season, who had to splurge Rs 9.6 crore to retain his services at the mega-auction. However, he dislocated his shoulder in the Trans-Tasmanian T20 tri-series in February, which ruled him out of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and made him a huge doubt ahead of the IPL starting in April. 

But much to the delight of the KKR management and fans, Lynn has now revealed that his shoulder is healing well and he is trying to make himself available for the first game of the upcoming IPL. 

“It’s tracking really nicely. It’s a short turnaround with the timeframe that we’ve got but it’s all going well. The docs and the physios are happy so that’s all I can do. Fingers crossed I can keep going in the right direction and try to make myself available for the first game of the IPL. If not, it’s not the end of the world but I’m doing everything I can to get back out there,” Lynn said to cricket.com.au (as reported by the Indian Express).

Lynn has just started facing throw-downs and will take on Ben Cutting and Billy Stanlake next week, which will give him an idea of how his recovery is going.

“I’ve had a bat during the week just on throwdowns, so I’ll ramp it up next week against ‘Cuttsy’ and Billy Stanlake. If I can get through those two blokes, I’ll know I’m going okay,” the 27-year-old added. 

Lynn is also frustrated. Having missed out on a lot of cricket, the explosive batsman will no doubt be itching to take the field. Also, considering his major surgeries, diving would be a problem for him. 

“I just want to play some cricket – I’ve missed so much cricket over the last three years. There’s some strict and stern words of no diving (from medical staff), every hour of the day I get those words thrown at me,” he said. 

Kolkata Knight Riders start their IPL campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Kolkata on April 8.