BCCI’s bid to clear air on Wriddhiman Saha injury only adds to confusion

Team India’s No. 1 Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha is likely to be out of action for nearly six to eight months as he will undergo surgery on his shoulder in Manchester by the end of July.

DNA has learnt that Saha was given an option by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to pick either Mumbai in India or Manchester in England as the place for his surgery. The stumper chose the latter and is set to be accompanied by his wife during his time away from home.

BCCI, having come under fire for mishandling the 33-year-old’s injury during his stay at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru under the watchful eyes of physio Ashish Kaushik, on Saturday tried to clear the air by releasing a timeline of Saha’s injury on its website.

Instead of clearing the air, though, it has only added to the confusion.

Going by the BCCI bulletin, Saha complained of pain in his right shoulder after returning from South Africa in January with a left hamstring injury.

An MRI scan revealed a labral tear, for which he was given an “ultrasound-guided injection”. However, the name of the injection was not mentioned in the release.

Later, Saha was discharged from the NCA after being declared fully fit on March 19.

However, he injured the shoulder again on May 7 during an Indian Premier League (IPL) game.

Another ultrasound-guided injection was administered under the supervision of the Sunrisers Hyderabad physiotherapist. As a result of which Saha was forced to miss the next five IPL games and report to the NCA again for rehab.

The NCA physio assessed his right shoulder and concluded that its presentation was similar to how it had been in late January/early February.

If the NCA physio assessed that Saha’s condition was “similar to what it was in January and February when he first time sustained labral tear”, then the bigger question is who allowed the Sunrisers Hyderabad to play Saha in their IPL qualifier in Kolkata on May 25.

It was also in this game that Saha injured his right thumb, with X-rays confirming that he had sustained a fracture, which forced him out of India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru.

As per the BCCI timeline, his thumb injury had healed on July 2, but the following day, Saha returned to the NCA complaining about experiencing pain and restriction of movement in his right shoulder.

On July 6, another steroid injection was administered after an appointment with Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, an orthopaedic surgeon in Mumbai.

At that point, Dr Pardiwala opined that another steroid injection would assist Saha’s recovery and if that doesn’t work too, a surgery would be necessary. The Bengal stumper was finally declared unfit on July 13.

Yet, the national selectors were left clueless about his condition when they sat down to pick the Indian squad for the first three Tests against England on July 18.

The BCCI’s release, however, categorically specifies that all of Saha’s treatment and rehab process at the NCA was “performed in coordination with the team management and the GM of Operations”, who is Saba Karim.

It added that the labral repair surgery will be done by Dr Lennard Funk in Manchester. Meanwhile, Saha’s wife has been cleared to accompany him to England by the BCCI and her visa application is in process.

BCCI TIMELINE: THE KEY POINTS

• 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.   
• Saha then went to play IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. On 7th of May he fell twice on his shoulder jarring the joint.
• He thereafter was rested for 5 IPL games while undergoing rehabilitation under the care of the franchise.
• On 25th of May he played the next IPL game. Unfortunately Mr. Saha injured his right thumb during this game with x-rays confirming that he had sustained a fracture.
• 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.

The entire course of treatment and consultation that was carried out at the NCA was performed in co-ordination with the India Team management and the GM of Operations.