Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya is set to fly to United Kingdom on Wednesday to get his back checked by a back specialist after he aggravated his lower back injury in the recent T20I series against South Africa. This will be his third visit to the UK doctor, after visiting him during the 2018 Test series against England and then the 2019 World Cup this year. A senior BCCI member told IANS that Pandya, who first was ruled out due to his back during the Asia Cup last year, will consult the doctor on whether to go ahead with a surgery or not.
“Pandya had tried his best and worked on his fitness after the World Cup. But he aggravated it while playing in the T20I series against South Africa. He is flying off tomorrow and will sit down with the specialist and decide if he needs a surgery or medication will do.
“The specialist understands him as they have been in touch over the last couple of years. In fact, even when we were playing the World Cup, he paid a visit to the doctor to get his back checked. You have to understand that no athlete at the top level is a 100 per cent. They are always carrying some niggle or the other. The physio is there to help in that. But then, after a point, you need to take a call,” the functionary said.
The BCCI member also gave the example of former skipper MS Dhoni, who often sleeps on the floor to help his bad bed. “Take Dhoni’s example. For the last 12 years, he has been sleeping on the floor and playing non-stop. You try and figure out ways to tackle situations because at the end of the day, nobody wants to be going under the knife,” the functionary said.
When quizzed about how Jasprit Bumrah, who suffered a stress fracture in his lower back and has been ruled out of the series against South Africa and Bangladesh, is recovering, the member continued by sating, “ “He is progressing well as his body is on auto-heal mode, but we don’t wish to take any chance and that is why he is being sent to the UK for assessment. But things are looking much brighter. In fact, for those unaware, this was his second stress fracture as he healed automatically the first time.”