(From The News)
Career-threatening back problem
forces Latif out of Harare Test
A dive or catch by wicketkeeper may lead to permanent paralysis
By Waheed Khan
KARACHI: Pakistan’s vibrant wicketkeeper and batsman Rashid Latif has been told to either undergo corrective surgery for a chronic back problem and miss the World Cup or consider calling it a day altogether as a professional cricketer.
Rashid will know in the next couple of days if he faces a tragic and premature end to his cricket career or whether he can stage another remarkable comeback from injury and fitness problems.
The former Pakistan captain who turned 34 last month is not playing in the first Test against Zimbabwe at Harare due to the back injury, but apparently it is far more serious than it initially appeared to be.
The back problem which has dogged him for the last few month’s has been diagnosed as the result of displaced cervical discs pinching the nervous system in his back.
According to details gathered by “The News”, the position now is that specialists have confirmed that if he takes the risk of continuing to play in his present condition, a full fledged dive or catch could result in the cervical discs damaging the nervous system and leading to permanent paralysis of his left shoulder. It is learnt that Rashid has been clearly told in Harare that he now has to decide if he wants to take the risk of permanently damaging his left shoulder, which is why he pulled out of the first Test.
The other alternative offered to the Karachi-born wicketkeeper is that he undergo immediate surgery to set the cervical discs right, but this would rule him out for atleast six months and end any hopes he might have of playing in the 2003 World Cup.
Sources close to Rashid said that at his age he had virtually ruled out surgery and the prospects of trying to stage another comeback after six months. One source said the Pakistan Cricket Board had assured him if he agreed to undergo surgery and rehabilitation under the supervision of their panel doctor Tauseef Razak; he could be 100 per cent fit once again very soon.
“But the other option is he decides to continue and play in his present state he runs a very high risk of paralyzing his left shoulder,” one source confirmed.
The source said when Rashid first encountered the back problem he had consulted specialists and had MRI scans done in Dubai and again in Pakistan but until then he was not told the problem was so serious.
It was only when the team reached Harare and he again complained of back pains during nets that he had another examination and was then told in clear words that either he undergo corrective surgery or consider his cricket career over.
Rashid, who made his Test debut in 1992 in England has played only 34 Tests and 140 One-day Internationals since then, but became more prominent than many other contemporaries due to his honest and outspoken approach to the match-fixing scandal and his anti-establishment stand.
Regarded as one of the finest wicketkeeper’s produced by Pakistan Rashid made a successful comeback to the senior team last year in April after not being considered by the selectors and Board since August 1998 for Pakistan duty due to his role in exposing the match-fixing issue.
Since his comeback last year, however he has become a regular feature in the team due to his compact performances behind the stumps and with the bat and is seen as a sure selection for the 2003 World Cup.
But in the changed scenario, sources say, Rashid is scheduled to discuss his future with the Board Chairman Lt General Tauqir Zia shortly and then decide when to return home from Harare.
In the contract offered to them by the Board, every player is covered by insurance against any injury on tour and if he returns home his treatment costs are covered completely by insurance.
However, in Pakistan cricket, players are not insured for any loss of income due to injuries suffered on tour and in such a case, it is the discretion of the Board if it wants to compensate the player or not.
this is the same guy who make such a mess out of minor incidents…