Kolkata: Chris Lynn, Kolkata Knight Rider’s opening batsman is expected to be back in the field very soon according to his teammate Colin de Grandhomme.
The Australian joined practice the day before KKR’s encounter against Pune, three weeks after his injury. Lynn batted for close to half an hour despite a heavily strapped left shoulder. He suffered from a dislocated left shoulder while attempting a catch against Mumbai Indians on 9th April.
“He is trying to get back as fast as he can,” said Colin de Grandhomme on the eve of KKR’s match against Rising Pune Supergiant in Kolkata.
Under the watchful eyes of team physio Andrew Leipus and assistant coach Simon Katich, Lynn took throwdowns for about half an hour, followed by a session with bowling coach L Balaji.
Lynn went about his ways in a watchful manner, curbing his natural instinct to play big-shots as net bowlers bowled at him in turns.
He earlier had a long warm-up session, playing football and doing some drills.
“The shoulder is slowly getting there. I had a cortisone injection the other day and it worked really well,” Lynn told Cricket Australia from Kolkata.
Having taken IPL by storm with his unbeaten 93 in a record Twenty20 opening partnership of 184 with Gautam Gambhir in KKR’s opener against Gujarat Lions, the Aussie aggravated an old injury on his left shoulder.
According to Grandhomme, Kolkata Kinght Riders (KKR) will look to bowl to the areas where RPS fiery all-rounder Ben Stokes is not strong.
England all-rounder Stokes played a knock of 103 runs from 63 deliveries to hand Pune a five wickets win over Gujarat Lions on Monday.
“I think we just got to execute our plans and hit our areas and try bowl to areas where he is not as strong and hopefully get him out early,” 30-year-old New Zealander Colin de Grandhomme told reporters on Wednesday.
De Grandhomme, who has an astonishing T20 strike rate of 169.44, featured in seven matches for KKR but yet to make an impact with the bat, while his 3/4 in RCB’s 49 allout has been his best bowling effort.
On his batting form, De Grandhomme:”Definitely, trying as hard as I can with the bat. Keep trying as hard as I can.”
“I think the more opportunity the lower order gets, the better they will get. The batsmen have been doing ther jobs which is a good thing. Like every game you have got to get up and try to win as many as you can,” he said.
The Black Caps international, who is here as Andre Russell’s replacement is happy being a part of such a glamorous tournament.
“It is a big thing to be playing the IPL, against the best players in the world, it is a big thing. You definitely learn a lot, under best coaches best players, you obviously learn a lot.”