Rishabh Pant's Incredible Comeback: From Life-Threatening Accident to Cricket Stardom

A Miraculous Recovery Journey

London: After suffering severe injuries in a car accident in December 2022, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was admitted to a Mumbai hospital, where his first inquiry to the attending physician was, 'Will I be able to play again?' This moment was recounted by Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, the esteemed orthopaedic surgeon who treated him following the tragic event.

On December 30, 2022, while driving from Delhi to his hometown of Roorkee, Pant lost control of his vehicle, resulting in a crash that left him with critical injuries.

Dr. Pardiwala emphasized how fortunate Pant was to survive the ordeal, stating, 'Rishabh Pant was extremely lucky to be alive.'

Upon arrival at the hospital, Pant presented with a dislocated right knee, an injured right ankle, and numerous other minor injuries. Dr. Pardiwala noted that Pant had suffered significant skin loss, with the skin from his neck to his knees completely scraped off due to the accident.

The impact of the crash was brutal, with broken glass causing additional injuries to his back as he exited the vehicle.

Pant's recovery journey spanned 635 days, during which he underwent multiple surgeries, extensive physiotherapy, and rehabilitation, ultimately leading to a remarkable return to professional cricket—a story that has inspired many.

Dr. Pardiwala remarked on the high risk of death in such accidents, especially when the vehicle overturns and catches fire. He noted that Pant was fortunate to avoid losing blood supply to his right leg, which could have resulted in severe complications, including amputation.

'When your knee dislocates and all the ligaments break, there’s a significant chance that the nerve or main blood vessel could also be damaged. If the blood vessel is injured, you typically have about four to six hours to restore blood flow,' he explained.

Recalling Pant's admission to the hospital, Dr. Pardiwala shared that Pant's mother was concerned about her son's ability to walk again, while Pant himself was focused on his cricketing future.

The injuries were so severe that a complete reconstruction of his knee was necessary. Dr. Pardiwala explained, 'We had a lengthy discussion about the fact that these are grievous injuries – we would need to reconstruct the entire knee. Once we reconstruct the entire knee, we’re going to have to then work through a whole process of letting it heal, letting it recover, then get back the basic functions – the range, the strength and the stability.'

On January 6, 2023, Dr. Pardiwala performed a four-hour surgery on Pant's right knee, reconstructing three ligaments and repairing tendons and the meniscus.

In the weeks following the surgery, Pant faced significant challenges, including the inability to brush his teeth due to swelling and skin loss.

Gradually, he regained some independence, starting with drinking water without assistance and eventually walking without crutches after four months. However, Dr. Pardiwala was initially doubtful about Pant's return to professional cricket.

'Typically, when we reconstruct these patients, they are satisfied just to return to normal life. If they can walk and engage in some recreational sports, they’re happy,' he noted.

'I told him: ‘We can certainly ensure that he walks again. I’m going to try my best to get him back to playing again.' We wanted to provide hope without setting unrealistic expectations, so we broke it down into steps, starting with the surgery.

'After the surgery, I told him that the fact he was alive and that his limbs survived were two miracles. If we could get him back to competitive cricket, that would be a third miracle. We just had to take it one step at a time.'

Determined to return to the field, Pant began setting personal timelines for his recovery.

'His question was: ‘Assuming we manage to get there, how long will it take?' I estimated about 18 months to return to competitive cricket.'

He spent most of 2023 at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, focused on his goal of returning to normalcy as quickly as possible.

'His whole aim was to get back to normalcy as fast as possible. We aimed to optimize his recovery, ensuring it was neither too little nor too much. His recovery was much faster than we had anticipated. He was determined: ‘Nothing is too much. I will push harder than normal people.'