Injuries are bad enough already. They’re worse when they happen in the middle of an IPL season. A further degree up in the horribleness levels is when you happen to be a young uncapped, untapped, unexplored player picked up from the wilderness. And when they keep you out of any sort of action for eight months, forget the stars, you know even the meteors are un-aligning themselves.

2022 for Arshad Khan was one such nightmare.

“I got injured mid-season in the last IPL. Eight months is a very long time to be injured for. It is the longest I have been injured in my career for. I didn’t play a single game during these eight months. I would just sit and watch others play and win trophies. My mind kept thinking that I needed to be there on the pitch. I was feeling helpless. I kept thinking when my chance would arrive,” Arshad said in an exclusive interview with mumbaiindians.com.

In all fairness, the sheer amount of talent available in India and the general nature of franchise cricket makes it difficult for teams to retain an Arshad Khan for the next season. After all, he’s someone whose entire senior cricket resume is just three List A games. And it was a season where the results weren’t in the team’s favour either. But Mumbai Indians didn’t look away.

“A month after my injury, MI contacted me. A step-by-step programme was put in place. I was involved in some hard sessions with the team physio and trainers. Only a few months in was I allowed to bat and bowl. We set the DY Patil tournament as my target,” he said about his rehab process.

And the gratification was instant. Playing for the Piyush Chawla-led Reliance A, he grabbed four wickets in his second match versus Central Railway, and finished the tournament with ten wickets in six matches. With the bat too, a 25-ball 34* against Indian Navy was further testament to the backing the MI management had placed in him. And as if to prove it further, he was instantly drafted into the Mumbai Indians first XI come the IPL.

“I feel humbled and thankful to the MI family for retaining me firstly despite me being injured. I have to thank the management for showing their trust and being involved in every step of the recovery programme they created for me. They really have been great.” 

That trust is repaid. Against the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday (April 30), on a belter of a pitch, Arshad Khan snapped up Sanju Sanson, Shimron Hetmyer and the centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal. He’s been earmarked to bowl the tough overs, and he’s doing it with a massive heart.  

This is just the first dividend of what is set to be a multibagger. You were worth every minute of the wait, Arshad.