XtraTime Web Desk: India’s first choice keeper, Wriddhiman Saha was left out of the Indian Test series squad against England as reported due to a supposed thumb injury. But it wasn’t the thumb, but the shoulder that kept him out from the action. He was carrying this injury for a long time since the South Africa tour earlier this year and he even played with that injured shoulder in the IPL as well. BCCI have given an update on his injury, that the Wicket Keeper batsman has sustained a posterosuperior labral tear. He will definitely undergo a surgery in the coming days and the Board has given the complete timeline of the injury which as follows:-
- Saha reported to the NCA (National Cricket Academy) post the South African tour on 29th January 2018 with a complaint of a left proximal hamstring tendinopathy which is pain in the upper left hamstring.
- Simultaneously he complained of right shoulder pain.
- Subsequently an MRI scan was done in February which revealed a Labral tear.
- Appropriate doctor consultations were done with Dr. Srikanth Narayanaswamy, Sports Physician who then advised an ultrasound guided injection, which was duly done.
- Following the injection, Saha went through a rehabilitation process at the NCA, as advised by the doctors, and on the 19th of March he was discharged by the NCA, having fully recovered from his hamstring and shoulder injuries.
- Wriddhiman then went to play IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. On 7th of May, he fell twice on his shoulder jarring the joint.
- On the following day, he complained of pain and stiffness in the shoulder to his IPL physiotherapist. Under the supervision of his IPL physiotherapist, he was taken to a doctor in Delhi and a second Ultrasound-guided injection was done as per the advice of the doctor.
- He thereafter was rested for 5 IPL games while undergoing rehabilitation under the care of the franchise. As a result of this injection and the subsequent rehabilitation, his right shoulder condition improved and allowed him to play without pain towards the end of the IPL. During this period, on the 15th of May, Saha requested to visit the NCA head physiotherapist, Ashish Kaushik, so that he could also review his right shoulder. Ashish assessed his right shoulder and concluded that its presentation was similar to how it had been in late January/early February. Ashish informed the Sunrisers Physiotherapist of this who then continued with his course of rehabilitation. The Team India Physiotherapist was informed of this sequence of events.
- On 25th of May he played the next IPL game. Unfortunately, he injured his right thumb during this game with x-rays confirming that he had sustained a fracture.
- On 28th of May, he was accompanied by the Team India Physiotherapist to an appointment to visit Dr. Sudhir Warrier regarding a surgical opinion for his right thumb. Dr. Warrier’s opinion was that the thumb injury did not require surgery. At this time, he complained of no shoulder pain or stiffness.
- A further x-ray on 2nd of July revealed that the thumb had healed.
- On 3rd of July he reported to the NCA for rehabilitation. At that time he again reported that he was experiencing pain and restriction of movement in his right shoulder.
- On the 4th of July he underwent an MRI of his right shoulder which revealed that his labral tear had worsened as compared to his previous scan.
- On the 6th of July, he was taken to meet Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, orthopedic surgeon, at Kokilaben Ambani Hospital, Mumbai. Dr. Pardiwala opined that another steroid injection would assist Mr. Saha’s recovery. He also stated that should the injury not respond to the injection, then surgery would be necessary.
- Post the injection, after observation and rehabilitation for five days, when his condition had not improved, he was declared unfit on the 13th of July and the India team management was informed of the same.
The surgery will take place at the end of July or the 1st week of August. The labral repair surgery will be done by Dr. Lennard Funk in Manchester, UK.