Mitchell Johnson suffers horrific injury in gym

Mitchell Johnson injured his head in the gym

What's the news?

Former Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson suffered a horrific injury as a result of his gym exercises going wrong. Reportedly, the burly Johnson smacked his head with a chin-up bar in his gym, leading to as many as 16 stitches on his scalp and also a terrible cut.

The 36-year-old took to his Instagram page to inform his fans of the injury, thus leading to emotional responses from his followers on the social networking site.

In case you didn't know...

The left-armer retired from international cricket mid-way into the Test series against New Zealand during the home summer in 2015 after representing Australia in 73 Tests, 153 ODIs and 30 T20 Internationals.

Post-retirement, Johnson has kept himself engaged with the sport by participating in T20 leagues, including the Big Bash League in his own country and the Indian Premier League in India.

During the IPL auctions earlier this year, he was snapped up by the Kolkata Knight Riders for a sum of INR 2 crore, having played for the Kings XI Punjab and the Mumbai Indians previously.

The heart of the matter

In the Instagram post on Johnson's account, a clearly bruised head with blood all over can be seen. Having struck his head hard against the chin-up, Johnson immediately rushed to the hospital.

Though on his return he did post a picture of himself with a smile indicating that things were under control, his initial posts of the injury read, "If you don't like blood and cuts then don't look through these pics! Not the best thing I've ever done to myself but I'm am [sic] fine #toohardtoexplain #dontfightchinupbar #stilldontknowhowitspossible."

What's next?

Before even thinking of returning on the field for his new IPL side, Johnson will need a fully healed injury at least a few days before the commencement of the tournament on April 7, with KKR playing their first game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens on the following day.

Author's Take

A freakish injury not only hurts the player himself but also hampers the preparations of his team ahead of crucial tournaments. What adds insult to injury is the fact that cricketers of the calibre of Johnson, who can turn the game on its head within a few balls, are of massive importance to their side, who run the risk of missing him altogether.