Medical staff who nursed Rishabh Pant back to health after his horrific car accident in 2022 have praised the cricketer’s resilience and mental strength, saying he persevered through a “frustrating” recovery process. Pant will return to IPL cricket on March 23 when he captains Delhi Capitals against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali. “I feel very close to normal,” Pant told “bcci.tv” with a bright smile.
It seemed far-fetched 15 months ago when he suffered multiple injuries in a car accident. However, this was due to the professional care of experts like Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, Director, Center for Sports Medicine, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai, and some dedicated staff members of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru.
Padivala remembers how difficult Pant’s road to recovery was.
“As surgeons and doctors, it is very important for us to inform patients, their families and all stakeholders about the actual status of the injury. Rishabh’s mother is with him. She is very concerned about whether he will ever walk again,” Par said Diwala said.
“I told her, ‘This is a serious injury and we will definitely try to get him back into competitive cricket. But it’s going to be a long process’.”
However, Pardivala was surprised when he saw Pant’s confidence as he entered the recovery phase. “When I told Rishabh 18 months, he said ‘OK, I’m going to show you I can do this in 12 months’,” he said.
Pant committed himself on the hard courts of the NCA during his recuperation period.
“When I started walking without crutches, that was a high point. Then started jogging a little bit, which was a high point for me, then started hitting balls, then started hanging on because I was happy with everything,” the 26-year-old said the young man.
But due to the multiple layers of complexity, every step must be done with extreme care.
Pardivala said the complex knee injury, post-accident trauma and Pant’s frustration at staying away from the cricket field had to be dealt with in an effective manner.
“Knee dislocation is one of the most serious injuries for any surgeon because everything breaks down. You need to get stability back, you need to get shock absorption back,” he said.
“With any trauma, there’s a period of shock and there’s always an aspect of mental health. On one day, you’re completely normal, you’re a superstar and you’re celebrated all over the world.
“But after a week, you can’t do the things that normal people do. That’s when the frustration starts to set in. So, it’s a difficult period for Rishabh. We have to support him through this phase.”
NCA physiotherapist Dhananjay Kaushik said Pant came to him with a worn-out knee after the accident, but he was also surprised by Pant’s positive attitude.
“All the ligaments in Pant’s injured right knee were not spared in that accident. ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), part of the quadriceps, you name it, he nothing.
“I think if anyone can make a comeback, it’s Rishabh Pant, with his attitude,” Kaushik said.
NCA’s strength and conditioning coach Nishanta Bordoloi said the whole incident has made Pant a changed person.
“It made him a better person. He has more respect for life in general now. It made him more resilient and stronger. He was a very good person and he has become a better person now,” Bodo Roy said.
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