New Delhi: India’s vice-captain and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is in sensational form in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. He smashed his eighth Test century on Day 4 of the first Test in Leeds, becoming the first Indian wicketkeeper to hit a hundred in each innings of a Test match.
He is also the first Asian to score centuries in both innings in England and only the second wicketkeeper to achieve twin centuries in a Test match. Amid his heroics in England, Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, the orthopaedic surgeon who treated Pant after his accident, made some shocking revelations about the Indian cricketer.
Pant was driving from Delhi to his hometown, Roorkee, early in the morning on December 30, 2022, when he lost control of his car on the Delhi-Dehradun highway. The vehicle skidded for nearly 200 meters before crashing into a divider. In that crash, Pant’s right knee twisted badly, and the cricketer thought his life was over.
Surgeon reveals Pant’s first question after crash
Pardiwala revealed that when Pant first arrived, he had a dislocated right knee, an injured right ankle, and several other minor injuries. He had also lost a significant amount of skin from the nape of his neck down to his knees, which had been completely scraped off in the accident.
Pant’s first question was, “Am I ever going to be able to play again?” His mother, however, was more practical, asking the surgeon, “Is he ever going to be able to walk again?”
Pant underwent multiple surgeries and a complete reconstruction of his knee. He had a lengthy discussion with the surgeon about the severity of his injuries. Pardiwala performed a four-hour surgery to reconstruct three ligaments and repair tendons and the meniscus.
Pardiwala explained to Pant the facts related to his injuries and the miracle of his survival. “If we get you back to competitive cricket, that’s going to be a third miracle,” he told Pant. Pant’s immediate response was, “OK, assuming that we do manage to get there, how long is it going to be?” The surgeon replied, “Probably looking at 18 months to get back to competitive cricket.”
Pant’s sole aim was to “get back to normalcy as fast as possible.” He pushed harder than most people and recovered faster than anticipated.