INJURY TROUBLE

Shakib Al Hasan fears injured finger might never heal completely

by Atif Azam • Published on

Shakib Al Hasan will now have to wait for another three weeks for surgery on the finger © Getty

Shakib Al Hasan has stated that his injured finger will never be the same again, but hoped the surgery would enable him to continue his cricket career. The Bangladesh all-rounder said that the infection on the finger is the biggest threat, and needs to be cleared before the finger goes under the knife.

"The biggest threat is the infection because until the infection is cleared totally, surgeons will not do anything with it because if they work on it, with any kind of infection around the finger, there is a possibility that it can travel into the bones and if that is the case then the whole hand will be spoiled," Shakib told reporters at the Airport.

"The finger won't be same like before [after surgery] because the fractured bone is soft in nature and it cannot be fixed at any point in future," he said. "It might not get healed totally but the surgery is expected to be done in such a manner so that my hand can take the pressure of playing cricket - like it will help me to hold the bat properly and continue my cricket career," he added.

Shakib, who was expected to fly to the USA for the surgery, was admitted to a hospital on September 27 after flying home to Dhaka before the Asia Cup final. An emergency procedure was carried out to remove the pus from his injured finger, but an infection ruled him out of action for upto at least three months.

He will now have to wait for another three weeks for surgery on the finger. The pus that formed extended up to his left wrist, that was spotted only in Dhaka on Thursday, which in turn hindered the pre-determined process.

"First of all the infection needs to be clear and only then I will get to know how long it will take. It will take six to eight weeks once the main surgery is done but usually it takes six weeks. If it takes six weeks then I will be able to return to the field and then I might play the BPL," Shakib said.

Meanwhile, BCB chief physician Dr. Debashish Chowdhury informed that Shakib is in stable condition now and they are planning to send him to Australia for further treatment, and will follow the doctor's advice.

"His condition has improved slightly. He is suffering less pain now. At the moment, he is under antibiotic treatment. It will continue for one more week and we are hoping his infection will be controlled within this period," said Debashish.

"He will fly to Melbourne for two reasons. Firstly to find out his hand condition at the moment and secondly when the surgery is required and what would be the plans. So Shakib will probably fly to Australia as per the availability of the doctor's appointment. So at the moment one month is needed to manage Shakib's current injury situation. After a month, according to doctor's advice, we will go for surgery or take appropriate measures then," he added.

Shakib was forced to withdraw from the Asia Cup 2018 when the pain in his finger became unbearable thanks to the swelling during the tournament. Although Bangladesh's physio Tihan Chandramohan sent his reports and X-rays to doctors in Australia and England, he couldn't identify the possibility of an infection, despite the swelling.

BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan said that they will sit with Chandramohan to see whether there was any kind of negligence from his part and act accordingly.

"Naturally we will sit with the physio for clarification in this regard, because why he failed to detect the severity of the injury is still not clear to us and we want to have a clear notion about the entire episode," Akram told Cricbuzz.

© Cricbuzz

TAGS