Injured Wriddhiman Saha out for at least two months

Wriddhiman Saha, India's primary Test wicket-keeper, has been ruled out for at least two months due to a shoulder injury. The 33-year-old has been out of the Indian team ever since the qualifier stages of the Indian Premier League 2018, initially because of an injury sustained on his thumb.

It is being reported that Saha had recovered from his thumb issue, but the new injury had been kept under the wraps. There have been reports stating that a 'bungled' rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru had derailed his comeback.

“Wriddhiman’s rehabilitation has been a complete goof up. The NCA physio has bungled it big time. Now only a surgery can put him back on track. Once he is done with surgery, he will not touch the bat for at least two months and then rehab will start,” a source close to the BCCI told PTI.

He could go for a shoulder surgery soon.

According to The Indian Express, the shoulder injury had first surfaced during the Indian Premier League itself, but Saha, representing the Sunrisers Hyderabad, kept playing by taking injections.

Earlier in the day, Saha took to Twitter:

🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/vp83ZwF3NS

— Wriddhiman Saha (@Wriddhipops) July 19, 2018

Saha last played for India in the Cape Town Test against South Africa in January this year. Parthiv Patel was the designated wicket-keeper then. Saha picked up a hamstring injury and did not play the next two games.

Later, he did not participate in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June, post the IPL, with Dinesh Karthik, who made a return to the Test team after eight years, replacing him in the side as the wicket-keeper.

In the absence of Saha for the England tour, the selectors included Rishabh Pant for the first time in Tests, as a backup for Dinesh Karthik, who is expected to do the primary wicket-keeping in the Test matches, starting August 1 in Birmingham.