India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant underwent knee ligament surgery and is currently under observation at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Mumbai.
“Rishabh Pant has successfully undergone a knee ligament surgery on Friday. He will be under observation. Further course of action and rehabilitation will be advised by Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala and followed by the BCCI sports science and medicine team,” a BCCI official told Indian media.
However, the terrible news coming from the Mumbai-based hospital is that he could be out of action for as long as nine months and could miss the ODI World Cup scheduled to be held in October and November in India.
Among other big-ticket events, the Uttarakhand-born star could miss is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in February-March, the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April May, the World Test Championship final in England in June in case India qualified for the title clash against Australia and the Asia Cup in September.
“At this stage extent of tear is not known. A clearer picture can only come in next 3-4 days. But the doctors at the hospital feels Pant's ligament tear is of severe nature. The kind of workload a wicketkeeper has to go through makes us feel Pant can comeback to competitive cricket only after 6-9 months,” a BCCI medical team source was quoted as telling the media.
The development is a major setback for Team India because Rishabh Pant is a vital cog in the Rohit Sharma-led side's scheme of things in Test cricket where he has accomplished most of his success.
Widely regarded as the best wicketkeeper-batter in Tests, Rishabh Pant has scored 2169 runs in 54 innings in the whites, including five centuries and 10 half-centuries. He has a stunning strike rate of 73.10 and averages 43.48 in the longest format of the game.
The southpaw suffered a near-fatal accident late last month when he was on his way to visit his mother in Uttarakhand's Roorkee. According to eyewitness accounts, Rishabh Pant crashed his vehicle into a road divider. He miraculously avoided life-threatening injuries despite his Mercedes Benz going up in flames.
The accident came days after he powered India to a 2-0 whitewash of Bangladesh in the Test series in the neighboring country.
In the process, Rishabh Pant joined a select band of Indian wicketkeepers, including former captain MS Dhoni to complete 4,000 runs in international cricket.
The southpaw was airlifted to Mumbai from Dehradun's Max hospital on Wednesday after the BCCI released a statement that the cricketer will need specialized medical treatment to heal the two ligament tears in his knee.
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant’s near escape from death drew emotional reactions from the 1983 World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev, India head coach Rahul Dravid and T20I skipper Hardik Pandya.
According to Kapil Dev, Rishabh Pant could easily afford a chauffeur to drive his vehicle and he should immediately hire someone to avoid such incidents in the future.
Kapil Dev also urged Rishabh Pant to curb his tendencies for thrill which he claimed was pretty normal for a man of his age. For the unversed, Rishabh Pant is 25.
“This is a learning. When I was still an up-and-coming cricketer, I faced a motorcycle accident. From that day onwards, my brother didn’t even let me touch the motorbike. I’m just thankful to god that Rishabh Pant is safe,” Kapil Dev said in an interaction with ABP News.
“Yes, you have a good-looking car with great speeds but you have to be careful. You can easily afford a driver, you don’t have to drive it alone. I understand that one has hobbies or even passion for such things, it’s natural to have it at his age, but you also have responsibilities. Only you can take care of yourself. You have to decide things for yourself,” Kapil Dev added.
India’s newly-appointed T20I captain Hardik Pandya and coach Rahul too shared their wishes for “fighter” Rishabh Pant.
“Hi Rishabh, just wanted to wish you a speedy recovery. I know you have been a fighter and things are not the way you would have liked, but life is life. You will break all the doors and make a comeback as you have always done. My love and wishes are with you. The whole team and nation are behind you,” Hardik Pandya stated.
“Rishabh, hope you are doing well. Hope you get well soon. Over the last one year, I have had the privilege of watching you play some of the greatest innings in Indian Test history. Whenever we have been in difficult situations, you have got the character to get ourselves out of very difficult situations. This is one such challenge, I know you are gonna bounce back like you have done so many times this year. Look forward to having you back soon buddy,” Rahul Dravid said in a video posted by the BCCI.
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