As Team India prepare to kick start the new year with a three- T20I series against Sri Lanka with the opening game scheduled to take place on Tuesday (January 3) at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium, the Indian cricket fraternity is still recovering from the news of Rishabh Pant’s freak car accident.
In the early hours of Friday (December 30) morning, Pant’s car collided with a divider and went up in flames near Roorkee, where he was going to visit his mother. The star Indian wicketkeeper-batter managed to escape with the help of a few locals but suffered multiple injuries.
India’s stand-in T20I skipper Hardik Pandya opened up on the incident on the eve of the game and claimed Pant will be a big miss for the team. He sent prayers and wishes from the entire team for their 24-year-old, who is currently admitted at Max Hospital in Dehradun.
What happened was unfortunate. Our love, prayers with him. He’s an important player for the team. We need to evaluate. In his absence, others will get opportunities. A huge difference when he’s not part,” said Hardik in the pre-match press conference.
The day came with positive news as Pant was discharged from the ICU to a private ward in the hospital. His Brain and Spine MRI had returned normal results but the extent of his knee injury is yet to be revealed.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had revealed that Pant had suffered two cuts on his forehead, a ligament tear in his right knee and has also hurt his right wrist, ankle, toe and has suffered abrasion injuries on his back. Rishabh’s condition remains stable, and he has now been shifted to Max Hospital, Dehradun, where he will undergo MRI scans to ascertain the extent of his injuries and formulate his further course of treatment.
Pant was not part of the Indian team for the Sri Lanka series as he was not named in both the ODI and T20I squads. Pant was asked to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) ahead of the Test series against Australia but his participation in that is a major doubt now.
