Team India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant's stunning admission about his 2022 horrific car crash made netizens emotional on social networking site X, previously Twitter.

 

Several admirers of Rishabh Pant accepted that they were missing his batting, especially at a time when Team India has found it challenging to tackle spinners in Test matches.

 

Last week, the Rohit Sharma-led side suffered a shock loss in the first Test against England in Hyderabad, reminding fans of Rishabh Pant's utility in the team's middle order.

 

During an interview with Star Sports, the 26-year-old revealed that if he wasn't rescued from the car that had caught fire after the accident, his right leg could have become infected and may have needed amputation to save his life.

 

He underlined that for the first time, he experienced the feeling of being scared and feared that he could lose one of his legs in the immediate aftermath of his near-fatal crash in December 2022.

“Doctors were surprised and told me that I didn't even have a hairline fracture despite having such an accident. Yes, the knee injury was major but this could have been a lot worse. They always tell me that I'm very lucky. I wonder how I'm supposed to feel lucky as I had such an accident but the flip side is that I'm still alive,” Rishabh Pant told Star Sports.

 

“For 30 days, I was bedridden. I couldn't move. The friction burns were extreme and initially when I was trying to walk, I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to resume walking/running in a normal way. I needed a lot of help in the early stages. Just to stand up, three to four people had to help me around. Since my childhood, I'm used to running around and doing my things on my own. So, this feeling was disturbing for me and I felt disrespectful to myself as to how anyone can be so helpless,” the left-hander added.

 

“Luckily when the accident happened, I was aware of the wounds, I was lucky as it could easily have been a lot worse than it was. I didn't know what it was that saved me. My right leg was dislocated, I was lying down. I asked somebody for help and thanks to them, I was able to fix my leg back into the right position. If my nerve had been damaged, we would have had to amputate my leg. That was when I got really scared, because earlier, I was in so much pain that I couldn't think of anything else,” Rishabh Pant elaborated.

 

“For the first time in life, I had given up. I felt like my time in this world was up. Never had this feeling before,” the explosive Team India batter expressed. 

Also, Rishabh Pant thanked his mother for standing by him during his worst phase and how her unconditional backing motivated him to look at life positively.

 

Eventually, this assisted the southpaw in his recovery process as his injuries healed much more quickly than expected.   

 

“For several years, I had been driving home late. I always loved to surprise my mom. I'd reach out of nowhere and tell her ‘Mom, just open the gate, I'm here'. So she was used to me reaching late. She was obviously very upset about the incident but she wasn't upset about me driving late as she knew it was a habit of mine. She never faulted me for it and that was very satisfying. That's probably why people say that family understands us the best. Accidents can happen with anyone, anytime,” Rishabh Pant pointed out.

 

“I'm glad that I was driving when the accident happened and not anyone else. If that was the case, then I don't know how I'd have reacted. At least now, I'm responsible for my mistake,” he maintained.

 

After his initial hospitalization in Dehradun, Rishabh Pant was airlifted to Mumbai. Following a thorough analysis of his medical condition, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appointed a team of specialists who subsequently conducted surgeries on his injured knee. 

 

Following his surgery, Rishabh Pant began his rehab process under the watchful eyes of the BCCI trainers – who gave specific instructions to him about his daily routine.

 

Slowly but steadily, Rishabh Pant took baby steps towards his return to cricket action. Once he found his feet and started walking, though not without crutches, he shared pictures with his millions of fans on social media, making them aware that he was on a comeback trail.  

 

“So, my first step, we luckily had a terrace and that was my first step. I posted a picture also (on social media). So many people sent their love and blessings, and I'm really grateful to them. It was very helpful. So, I wanted to give them an update that I'm feeling slightly better,” he stated.

 

“I was focusing solely on my recovery process. Cut off myself from the world and I felt that at such a time, it helps me to recover faster. Because you've to do the same things day in and day out. it is a boring process. It's irritating, it's frustrating but you have to do it,” Rishabh Pant noted.

 

“Till the time I resume playing cricket, I don't want to plan too much for the future. I never dwell in the past, I want to stay in the present and do the best I can, which is to focus on my knee,” he continued.

 

The accident came at an inopportune time for Rishabh Pant. The youngster had already solidified his position in India's Test and ODI playing elevens. 

 

Moreover, with the ODI World Cup being held in India in 2023, captain Rohit Sharma was grooming him for the finisher's role, especially after his fearless approach to batting made waves across the world.

 

As many former cricketers fell in love with his aggressive batting, he was a shoo-in in India's startling XI in ODIs. 

    

However, as fate would have it, Rishabh Pant was forced to watch the action unfold from the sidelines, which he admitted was far tougher than playing the sport in front of thousands of spectators.

“I tried not to watch cricket a lot. I realised that what the coaches say is true, that it is tough to just watch from the outside. Because the IPL was on, Delhi was playing and I wasn't feeling good. I felt we could have done a lot of things differently. I wanted to discuss things with them but then I realised that I'm outside the team. When you're inside the team, things are different. You can control a lot of things. Sitting from outside, it's easy to make comments but the captain and coach will be having their own ideas. So it will only cause miscommunication if I also give my opinions,” Rishabh Pant said.

 

“I realised I was getting stressed and understood that I had to cut down on watching cricket. I did watch the Ashes later on, had a lot of fun as I loved England's new way of playing cricket. It was anyway my style of playing,” he concluded.