Shardul Thakur has joined* Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as replacement for Mohsin Khan. Thakur, who had gone unsold at the auction ahead of IPL 2025, has been with the LSG squad in Visakhapatnam, where the Rishabh Pant-led team starts its campaign with an away match against Delhi Capitals (DC) on March 24.
An IPL statement said that Thakur, who has been signed from the "registered available player pool", has been acquired for his reserve price of INR 2 crore. He has played 95 games in the IPL over the years, turning out for five franchises - Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Delhi Capitals (DC), Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings, PBKS), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rising Pune Supergiant/s - and has 67 Wickets from them with an economy rate of 8.89.
It is understood that Mohsin, who plays for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket, tore the anterior cruciate ligament tear (ACL) on his right knee on December 31 while playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. While Mohsin had joined the LSG camp recently in Lucknow, it is learned he did not travel with the squad to Visakhapatnam.
The development is a setback for both LSG and Mohsin, who had survived a career-threatening shoulder injury after IPL 2022 but recovered fully and played the entire 2024 season. It is understood that Mohsin is currently doing rehab and will work with the LSG support staff to chalk out his route back.
Thakur and Shivam Mavi have been training with LSG since the franchise started its main preparatory camp recently in Lucknow. Both fast bowers, who have featured for several other franchises in the IPL in the past, did not find any buyers.
Consequently, Thakur, who had a successful domestic season with Mumbai after a foot surgery, signed as an overseas player for Essex to play in county cricket. It is learned that Thakur had already alerted Essex that he would take up the offer if any IPL franchise needed a replacement player, and Essex confirmed on Sunday that Thakur will no longer be joining them.
LSG will consider themselves unfortunate considering none of their four first-choice Indian fast bowlers are currently fit. Apart from Mohsin, the trio of Mayank Yadav, Avesh Khan and Akash Deep are also unavailable. All the three fast bowlers are currently doing rehab at BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
While Mayank continues his rehab for a lower-back stress injury, Avesh is understood to be recovering from niggles in his right knee that are believed to be workload related. Akash Deep, who last featured for India when he played the fourth Test on the Australia tour, is also recovering from stress injury in his lower back. There is no official update on when the three would be ready to make a comeback, but it is understood Avesh could be back in a week subject to him clearing fitness tests next week.
* The story was updated at 5.55am GMT on March 23, 2025.