Sai Sudharsan won’t be taking part in the remainder of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025-26. The southpaw from Tamil Nadu has sustained a rib injury and reported to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Centre of Excellence (CoE).
Sai Sudharsan’s injury and rehab
Sudharsan injured the right side of his rib cage during his 51-run knock against Madhya Pradesh on December 26, diving to avoid a run-out while running between the wickets. Subsequently, Sudharsan didn’t feature in Tamil Nadu’s next two fixtures against Karnataka on December 29 and Jharkhand on December 31. In fact, he had checked into the CoE in Bengaluru on the day of the Karnataka game.
The 24-year-old had experienced some discomfort in his rib cage about a week earlier after getting hit in the nets. However, Sudharsan didn’t pay much heed to it. Indicating the pain wasn’t severe. However, that dive proved to be costly. A computed tomography (CT) scan has confirmed that Sudharsan sustained a small, undisplaced fracture on his right seventh rib.
Sudharsan’s rehabilitation has already commenced. He’s currently working on lower-body fitness and conditioning work, with the medical staff at the CoE monitoring him. He won’t be doing any upper-body training to ensure his injured rib heals properly. It’s expected that within 7-10 days, when his pain reduces, he’ll start focusing on an upper-body strength and conditioning routine.
“Sai is undertaking lower-body strength and conditioning work with appropriate protection to the injured rib to facilitate healing, and he has responded well to the program. Upper-body training will be introduced once acute symptoms settle over the next seven to ten days, following which he will be gradually progressed into a structured upper-body strength and conditioning program,” a CoE report said as per ESPNcricinfo.
Should the Gujarat Titans be worried?
The Gujarat Titans (GT) would be slightly worried. An undisplaced fracture, where the bone is broken, but the pieces weren’t moved far enough during the break to be out of alignment, doesn’t usually require surgery. However, Sudharsan might be out of action for 6 to 8 weeks.
Sudharsan might miss the VHT and perhaps the initial matches of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy second leg, but will be available for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
