Wriddhiman Saha has been out of action since IPL 2018 due to a thumb injury and now it is understood that the wicketkeeper-batsman will undergo a surgery within 10 days in the United Kingdom. As per the media reports, Saha was supposed to be fit for the five-Test series against England but the rehabilitation didn’t go as per the plan at the NCA, Bengaluru.

However, according to a report published in India Today on Friday (July 20), Saha’s treatment wasn't screwed up at NCA and the 33-year-old sustained the injury during IPL 2018 when he dived full length.

It is learnt that injections are no longer effective and surgery is the only option to cure Saha’s thumb. Considered to be India’s first-choice keeper in the Test format, Wriddhiman Saha was not named in the India squad for the first three Tests against England and now it is almost sure that he will also miss the remaining two Tests of the high-profile series.

Earlier, the media reports claimed that Saha's rehabilitation was a mess up.

"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 senior BCCI official told PTI.

"He thought that possibly he could play against England with a good rehab at NCA and take it from there. But at NCA, training under a senior physio aggravated it further. Isn't it weird that a hairline fracture was taking two months to heal? No one probed the actual reason. Now he requires a major surgery and we can't put a date on his comeback," the official further alleged.

Meanwhile, Saha on Thursday (July 19) posted a message on Twitter in which he thanked his fans and well-wishers for their constant support.

The highly-anticipated Test series between India and England will commence on August 1 at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Lord’s will host the second Test while Trent Bridge, Rose Bowl and The Oval will stage the third, fourth and fifth Test respectively.

India squad for first three Tests against England:

Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur.

Itinerary:

Aug 01 - Aug 05, 1st Test – Edgbaston, Birmingham

Aug 09 - Aug 13, 2nd Test – Lord's, London

Aug 18 - Aug 22, 3rd Test – Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Aug 30 - Sep 03, 4th Test – The Rose Bowl, Southampton

Sep 07 - Sep 11, 5th Test – Kennington Oval, London