LAHORE: Pakistan’s pacer Ihsanullah will travel to England in the upcoming days for treatment of his elbow injury as, despite undergoing surgery last year, things have not got better for the youngster, sources told Geo News on Thursday.
Ihsanullah, 21, has been away from cricket since last year and is expected to remain on the sidelines in the coming months as his elbow is still not fine.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made all the necessary arrangements for the pacer’s treatment and they will be supported by Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Multan Sultans’ owner Ali Tareen.
The 21-year-old is likely to undergo another surgery after the initial process, which would keep him out for a couple of months.
Remember, Ihsanullah continued to do weight training after his initial injury which made things worse.
It is worth mentioning that right before the commencement of PSL 9, Ihsanullah was training with Multan Sultans and in an interview with Geo News, confirmed that he was bowling at full pace.
“The rehabilitation after the elbow surgery went great, I have been bowling for the past 15 days,” Ihsanullah had said. “I’m feeling way better than before, I tried to swing the ball with full pace during the practice sessions, and I was able to do it accurately."
With Ihsanullah set to undergo treatment once again, there have been questions regarding the way the PCB has treated the pacer’s injury even after it was initially misdiagnosed, as reported by ESPN Cricinfo earlier.
However, PCB’s medical department head Dr Sohail Saleem confirmed that there was no mishandling in Ihsanullah’s case.
"There was no mishandling in this case," Dr Saleem told ESPNcricinfo. "I'll admit there was a delay [in the initial diagnosis], but no mishandling.
"I said I wanted to get fresh tests conducted because I suspected it was more than just workload syndrome. It was diagnosed as such by the doctor who was previously here at the PCB, and not my team. A lab that gave us an MRI scan gave us an incorrect prognosis. I ordered the same scan again, and we picked the fracture up."
The 21-year-old has played one ODI and four T20Is over the course of his brief career for the Pakistan cricket team, so far. He made his debut in the limited-overs format earlier this year.
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.
