There Was No Confusion Over Wriddhiman Saha's Injury, Insists MSK Prasad

MSK Prasad, chairman of India’s selection panel, has insisted the selectors were kept well updated on the fitness issues of Wriddhiman Saha.

Saha’s injury had raised questions over his rehab at the National Cricket Academy. The Indian gloveman Saha was initially sidelined with a thumb injury which he had sustained in the Indian Premier League (IPL) while representing Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Bengal-based cricketer Saha subsequently missed the final of the competition. He also didn’t feature in the historic one-off Test against Afghanistan. But he was expected to be fit in time for the Test series against England.

However, the BCCI then revealed that the 33-year-old is suffering from a shoulder injury. As a result, Saha missed the Tests against England and underwent surgery in England.

The way the whole episode was handled by the BCCI as well as NCA, several eyebrows were raised. However, MSK Prasad has insisted that the selection panel was well aware of Saha’s fitness as he denied any confusion.

“We keep getting the fitness reports of all contracted players undergoing rehabilitation in NCA on a regular basis. There is absolutely no confusion whatsoever. Patrick (Farhart, the physio) keeps me and my colleagues updated on the fitness status of every contracted player. It was pure speculation that the selectors were not informed about Saha’s fitness issues,” he told Cricbuzz.

“Let me clarify that we are well informed about Saha’s fitness status. In fact, apart from the information we get from Patrick, the performance statistics and fitness reports of all contracted and India ‘A’ players are tabled by our operations team in the selection committee meetings,” he added.

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Meanwhile, Saha would be wishing that the surgery puts an end to his miseries this year. He has already suffered several setbacks this year and would be desperate to return to action soon. After he scored 0 and 8 in the first Test of the year, against South Africa, he suffered a hamstring injury. Consequently, he had to return to India midway through the series.

Wriddhiman Saha is now also doubtful for the tour of Australia in winter this year.