PCB’s medical officer resigns after negative report on Ihsanullah’s treatment

Ihsanullah, who was injured in April last year and is still missing due to an elbow injury at first, was not treated for his right elbow, received proper treatment and surgery, and did not receive the legal rehabilitation program required by his condition. These are the conclusions reached by the committee in a judgment that exposes the extent of medical failure at the PCB over a long period of time, especially regarding its treatment of injured fast bowlers.

The report, compiled by a three-member independent panel, also partially accused Ihsanullah of “not following the prescribed rehabilitation program” as it concluded that the program itself was inadequate. Importantly, the team concluded that Ihsanullah’s return to cricket is still a distant prospect, recommending “intensive physical therapy on the right shoulder and elbow” and possible surgery if he is not fully recovered in 12 months.

The report, however, reserves its strongest criticism for Dr Saleem, and the Ihsanullah treatment plan was eventually shelved. It says Ihsanullah’s operation was “hastily arranged”, without special reviews and pre-operative tests. It also said the surgeon Dr Saleem recommended the procedure “lacked academics and knowledge in this field”, calling the choice “wrong”.

“After the operation, Mr. Ihsanullah did not fully comply with the rules of rehabilitation as stated by PCB officials,” the report said. “He continues with moderate elbow pain and shoulder dyskinesia. He has significant stiffness of the elbow where surgery is not recommended at the moment according to the advice of qualified national and international specialists in the special shoulder and elbow.

“However, we strongly believe that due to the talent that Ihsanullah possesses, he will undergo a physical examination upon his arrival in Pakistan where a proper multidisciplinary rehabilitation program will be developed, including hydrodilation and the like to provide the best possible chance for the player to live up to his potential and .”

Dr Saleem’s resignation was announced as part of an official statement issued by the PCB after the final report on Ihsanullah’s injury was made public. It brings a humiliating end to Dr Saleem’s second stint as PCB’s chief medical officer; he quit in 2021 after a failed attempt by the PCB to hold the PSL season through the Covid-19 bubble in 2021, before being reinstated to the cricket board under the leadership of Najam Sethi in early 2023.

He told ESPNcricinfo when the PCB’s medical department failed to detect an elbow fracture in the scans they carried out, they put him on a training program that included throwing and exercise before a serious injury was ruled out.

These comments put PCB’s medical department under the scanner again, with PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi promising an independent probe. Meanwhile, Dr Saleem spoke to ESPNcricinfo, acknowledging the “delay” in Ihsanullah’s diagnosis, but maintaining that there was “no mistreatment”.

That version was completely rejected by the committee’s conclusions. Dr Saleem said Ihsanullah was not in line with the rehabilitation process, which is a rare point of agreement between the outgoing medical officer and the committee’s report, although a number of players, as well as coaches and managers, have privately expressed to ESPNcricinfo that there is trust between several players and Dr Saleem.

Over the past two years, many Pakistani fast bowlers have been plagued by long-term injuries. In July 2022, when Shaheen Shah Afridi injured his knee, and at first it was not found. He went to camps and traveled with the group for a month, before flying to the UK while paying for himself and staying in a two-star hotel as he sought independent treatment. It was only after Shahid Afridi made a public complaint that the PCB said it would pay all Shaheen’s expenses.

Naseem Shah was known to carry a back and shoulder complaint which made him miserable in the build-up to a right shoulder injury, which occurred two months after Afridi’s injury, which caused him to be sidelined for six months. That led to Naseem missing the World Cup and the subsequent tour of Australia.

The report was commissioned by Naqvi, who was appointed as PCB chairman in February. He was also tasked with investigating the injury-related absences of fast bowlers Arshad Iqbal and Zeeshan Zameer, as well as women’s batsman Shawal Zulfiqar. The committee recommended a two-month rehabilitation program for Iqbal, an examination by a foot and ankle specialist for Zameer, and a CT scan of Zulfiqar’s right shoulder.