Pakistan pacer Ihsanullah returned to professional cricket after a long hiatus following a misdiagnosis of his injury, which turned it into a more serious one, resulting in his prolonged absence.
After being fast-tracked into the Pakistan side for his exploits in PSL, Ihsanullah sustained an elbow injury on his ODI debut against New Zealand in April last year. Unfortunately, his recovery was mismanaged by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). An independent report formed by a three-member panel claimed that there was a delay in the diagnosis of his injury, criticising the PCB for "inappropriate prescription of treatment".
As per the findings of the report, Ihsanullah didn’t have his right elbow pain treated or operated on appropriately and never received formal rehabilitation to heal. The report added that PCB's chief medical officer Dr Sohail Saleem "planned hurriedly" for Ihsanullah’s surgery without any proper preoperative assessment, and recommended an "inappropriate surgeon, lacking the academics and experience in the field" to look after the quick’s injury.
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As a result, Dr Saleem resigned from his post to bring an unceremonious end to his second stint. He had quit in 2021 after PCB failed to host a PSL season in a Covid-19 bubble before returning to the position in 2023, when Najam Sethi used to be the chair of the board.
It was revealed that Ihsanullah "was not fully compliant to the rehabilitation protocols" despite the report finding the rehabilitation plan to be inadequate.
Multan Sultans owner Ali Tareen took to X (formerly Twitter) earlier this year revealing that the franchise – which Ihsanullah represented in the PSL – had paid for the pacer’s living expenses on his road to recovery instead of the PCB. The Sultans had also arranged for him to travel to England for assessment.
The medical committee also recommended a two-month rehabilitation programme for Arshad Iqbal; a foot and ankle specialist for Zeeshan Zameer; and a CT scan of the right shoulder for Shawal Zulfiqar before proposing any further course of action.
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