What did Rishabh Pant ask First after his Horrific Road Accident? Doctor Reveals

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Rishabh Pant's unyielding determination shone through in the wake of his horrific car accident on December 30, 2022, near Roorkee, Uttarakhand.

The Indian wicketkeeper-batter was driving his BMW from Delhi to Roorkee when the vehicle veered off the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, flipped multiple times, and caught fire. Pant, then 25, suffered severe injuries, including a ligament tear in his right knee, fractures to his wrist, ankle, toe, back, and a serious abrasion on his forehead.

He escaped by jumping out of the window just before the car burst into flames, a split-second decision that saved his life. Airlifted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai, his recovery became a testament to resilience, culminating in his international comeback by late 2023.

This fighting spirit took center stage during the "Sport As Inspiration" session on Day One of RevSportz's Trailblazers 4.0 in Kolkata. Noted orthopaedic surgeon Dr Dinshaw Pardiwalla, who treated Pant, recounted the poignant early moments after admission.

"When Rishabh first came to the hospital, his mother's first question was whether he would be able to walk again. I assured her he would. But Rishabh's first question was different. He wanted to know when he could get back to playing cricket," he said.

Pardiwalla emphasized that Pant's elite return wasn't miraculous but stemmed from a meticulous medical blueprint.

"Rishabh's case was extremely unusual. To suffer such a major accident and then expect to return to elite sport is rare. But if you follow the right structure, diagnose the injury properly, restore the anatomy, and go through rehabilitation step by step, you give the athlete the best chance to come back," he added.

Pant, after a long lay-off due to that mishap, came back in India colours and was part of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning side. The southpaw has been out of the Indian limited-overs side for some time now, but he will be donning the Lucknow Super Giants colours in IPL 2026, which starts from March 28.