India’s wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha has been out of action since IPL 2018 with an injured thumb and was supposed to be fit for the five-Test series against England. Considered to be India’s first-choice keeper in the Test format, Saha has been rehabbing from his thumb injury at the NCA, Bengaluru.

However, now it has come to light that Wriddhiman Saha is actually nursing a career-threatening shoulder problem caused by a ‘bungled’ rehabilitation program at the National Cricket Academy, a top BCCI official has claimed.

It is learned that Saha will have to undergo a surgery in the UK next month and that might rule him out of the tour of Australia later this year.

“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

BCCI picked Dinesh Karthik in place of Saha for the England Tests, but the shoulder surgery will also put him out of the following tour to Australia later this year.

The BCCI official admitted that the 33-year-old Bengal stumper had long recovered from thumb fracture sustained during IPL.

“Saha first sustained a shoulder injury during the tour of South Africa while taking a catch. But it was a niggle that didn’t bother him. He left SA tour because of hamstring trouble and not shoulder pain though,” the official claimed.

“Now since keepers don’t need to throw from deep, so during IPL, Wriddhi didn’t bother and played with that injury. But the pain didn’t go away. 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,” he alleged.

Now questions have been asked whether the physio at NCA informed the authorities about the extent of Saha’s injuries. Even convener of selection committee Amitabh Chaudhary (acting secretary) wasn’t informed either by the NCA or selectors about Saha’s actual injury.

The convener needs to be updated with all the relevant information before the selection committee meeting.

“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 said.