Srinath scheduled for shoulder surgery

India's pace ace, Javagal Srinath, has been scheduled to undergo arthoroscopic surgery under the aegis of orthopaedic surgeon and sports injury specialist Dr Thomas Chandy.

Srinath had been taking treatment from Dr Mark Ferguson for a rotary cuff tear in his right shoulder, sustained in Toronto, Canada, in September 1996 and aggravated through continuous cricket activity thereafter, till his shoulder finally packed it in at the start of India's tour of the Caribbean in March 1997.

Dr Ferguson had recommended treatment and physiotherapy for the injury, as opposed to surgery. However, after three months of treatment, the injury did not yield fully to treatment, forcing Srinath to secure a second opinion from Dr Chandy, a specialist at the state of the art medical centre Hosmat, in Bangalore.

Dr Chandy had been recommending that the pace ace go in for surgery, but Srinath had till now opted for the treatment of Dr Ferguson, who had earlier cured S'African pace ace Allan Donald of a similar problem. "I told Srinath that there was a 50-50 chance of recovering through treatment, but pointed out to him that failing this, surgery would be inevitable. It has now reached that second stage, and we will be performing the operation very soon," Dr Chandy said.

Asked what the chances were, the Indian specialist said, "Oh, we can almost guarantee full recovery. Srinath will need to spend some time in controlled physiotherapy after the operation, but there is no reason why he should not stage a full and complete recovery from his injury, and resume his career."