Saturday marked one year of the horrific car crash suffered by India’s star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. The mishap took place as Pant’s car hit a divider in the Delhi-Roorkee highway. The southpaw received serious injuries but was lucky to somehow escape from his burning car, thanks to the timely help given by a passerby. Pant’s India and Delhi Capitals (DC) teammate Axar Patel has now revealed new details of the “fateful” accident that has still kept the wicketkeeper-batter away from competitive cricket.
“Subah 7 ya 8 baje mere phone pe ring baji. Pratima di ka phone aya. Pratima di ne mujhe pucha ki ‘teri Rishabh se kab baat hui thi last?’ Mene bola ‘nahi, kal karne wala tha lekin kal nahi ki mene’. ‘Are uski mummy ka number ho toh mereko send kar, uska accident ho gaya hai’. Matlab pehla thought mereko aaya ki ye bhai gaya (Early morning I got a call from sister Pratima. She asked me when did I talk to Rishabh Pant last? I told her that I was about to talk to him last day but I did not. Pratima said that she needed Pant’s mother’s contact number as the player has met an accident. At the first time, I though he is gone),” said Axar in a video uploaded by DC showing the timeline of Pant’s accident and recovery.
365 Days since that fateful night.
Every day since then has been nothing but full of gratitude, belief, self-care, hardwork and a never-give-up approach towards making a roaring comeback in the game that runs thick through his veins
Here’s to seeing the unorthodox,… pic.twitter.com/y5TD35RCrS
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) December 30, 2023
Pant is recovery well in a bid to make a return in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He was with the DC franchise in the auction table on December 19 this year in Dubai.
As Pant continues to work on his recovery, he recently opened up on the car crash, admitting that he is lucky to be alive.
“The kind of accident I had I am lucky to be alive. The first part of recovery was so challenging with lots of pain but now recovery is going well,” Pant said in a video posted by the IPL on X.
“More from a physical point of view because in the starting there was a lot of pain to be endured. But just looking forward to the journey till now. I think it’s been going really well from a recovery point of view.
“I felt like I couldn’t face people and all, and I felt like I had to do something which gives me confidence and I wanted to support my team at the same time because I’ve been playing for them. I love my team all the way, so I wanted to show my support even in the worst times. So that was the idea and I think it’s part of the recovery process.”
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