Pakistan quick Ihsanullah has promised to bowl at 150 kph in one month after his former PSL franchise Multan Sultan’s owner Ali Khan Tareen claimed that the fast bowler will not be able to achieve pre-injury levels due to a "botched" surgery.
Ihsanullah burst onto the scene after a stellar PSL 2023, claiming 22 scalps for the Sultans, the second-highest in the tournament that year. The world took notice of Ihsanullah’s pace as he regularly clocked 150 kph on the speed gun.
However, his rise was cut short by an elbow injury on his ODI debut for Pakistan in April that year. Then the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) mismanaged his injury to aggravate it further, ruling him out of action for 21 months.
Speaking on The Relukattay Show, Tareen revealed that Ihsanullah may not be able to bowl in the same way because "he does not have a straight arm".
"It's very sad. It's really, really sad but we got Ihsanullah consulted with a top surgeon - he is a "world expert" - who gave us big news, saying that ‘I can do the surgery but no matter what I do, there is so much scarring from his previously botched surgery, thanks to the PCB, that his arm will never become perfectly straight,'" Tareen said.
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He added: "'No matter what I do, there is so much scarring that no matter how much I remove it, it will never get 100% straight. He will never be able to bowl in the same way because he does not have a straight arm, there will always be a bend.'
"So, it is so unfortunate that one person ruined a player’s career to hide his mistake. It's a very unfortunate story. That’s why even now, he was bowling in domestic at 130-135, which is a high pace but he was our 155 [kmph] bowler, man."
Ihsanullah: Pace is natural for a bowler
Responding to Tareen's claims, Ihsanullah pledged to regain his pre-injury speed within a month. Ihsanullah, currently without a PSL team, was seen participating in the ongoing trials by Peshawar Zalmi, making good progress.
In December last year, he made his comeback to competitive cricket in the Champions T20 Cup, picking up four wickets in two matches.
"Before I was not able to bowl even at 107 kph because of pain. Then gradually I reached 116, 122 and 129 kph. In the Champions T20 Cup, I clocked 135 kph on the speedgun. Now in the Peshawar Zalmi trials, I can bowl at 138-142 kph.
"Pace is natural for a bowler. It doesn't depend on whether the elbow is straight or bent. When you have the courage, you can bowl at 150 kph. I can easily hit the desired speeds within a month. The speeds that were recorded in the trials were 5 kph lower, so I was bowling at 147 kph," Ihsanullah said in an interview with paktv.tv.
"I'll come back in the reckoning and astonish everyone by regaining my speed. I was making a comeback in nearly 1.5-2 years, so there was pressure on me. Doesn’t matter whether my elbow is straight or not, I just want to bowl at 155-160 kph and shut everyone's mouth.
"If any team picks me up in the PSL then everyone will witness the same-old Ihsanullah. I will return by being the highest wicket-taker. My comeback will be stronger than Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins."
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