Smith to undergo elbow surgery
South African captain Graeme Smith will finally undergo a long-awaited surgery on his injured tennis elbow after delaying the surgery on account of South Africa’s hectic touring schedule in the last one year.
Graeme Smith has been plagued by injury since the last one year. However, being a vital member of the side, he has been delaying treatment owing to South Africa’s busy touring schedule.
His first injury occurred during the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League last year while he was representing the eventual winning franchise, Rajasthan Royals. His injury forced him to miss the last three one day internationals against England in August that year.
Australia’s Mitchell Johnson was then responsible for two sets of injuries to Smith’s hand.
The pacer first broke the Proteas skipper’s hand in the third Test between the two sides at Sydney. Though Smith bravely batted as the last-man, to save the match in the second innings, South Africa lost the match but won the series owing to the overall result.
Johnson fractured Smith’s hand again on the return series in Durban. Smith was ruled out for the subsequent Test but regained fitness in time for the limited overs series.
Smith then represented his IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals in the second season of the IPL in April-May this year.
That tournament was followed by the ICC World Twenty20 2009 where Smith led South Africa to an unbeaten run till the semi-finals of the tournament. However, they were humbled in the semis by Pakistan, who was will face Sri Lanka in the finals tonight.
Smith’s injury will rule him out for 10-12 weeks. But that is no problem for the South Africa skipper as the Proteas do not have any commitments during this time period. Their next assignment is the ICC Champions Trophy which will take place in their own backyard in September this year.
"I have left it too long, and it is now time to have the problem solved," said Smith after returning home from the ICC World Twenty20 in England.
"I will be out of action for 10 to 12 weeks, and should be fit again in time for the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa in September."