The accident brought his life to a standstill, but the wicketkeeper-batsman from Delhi made a miraculous recovery after an equally miraculous escape. However, the question marks over his return to cricket and to have the same impact as before remained.
But earlier this year, after going through multiple surgeries and an extended rehabilitation period, Pant’s remarkable story saw him returning to competitive cricket with the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he led the Delhi Capitals (DC).
(Axar Patel, left, and Rishabh Pant during India’s training session in Chennai – BCCI Photo)
“It’s a remarkable comeback, honestly,” DC’s former head coach Ricky Ponting had said while talking to Sky Sports.
“If you can even see his leg now, and if you listen to the stories he tells about what he confronted when he woke up on the side of the road having been thrown out of his car 40m up the road at 200kmph, I mean…Even just thinking about the mental side of coming back (is unimaginable), but physical side of it, the rehab he went through!
“I didn’t think he’d play last year’s IPL and that’s why I was on the phone with him because we had the auction coming up and we needed to know what to do. Right from 12 months before that, he said don’t worry about me. I’ll guarantee you I’ll be right for the IPL,” added ponting.
Pant didn’t look back after a successful and injury-free return to the IPL. He went on to play the T2o World Cup that India won earlier this year.
“Kept every game (in IPL 2024), one of our (DC’s) leading run-scorers, batted No. 3 in the (T20) World Cup, part of the World Cup winning team. It’s a remarkable comeback,” Ponting, the former Australia captain and a batting legend, said.
Watching Pant in the Test whites brings backs memories of January 2021 at The Gabba in Brisbane, when his epic 89 not out brought Australia to its knees at a stadium that had been their fortress for decades. India chased down a daunting 328-run target to win the series when they had their backs to the wall.
Those scenes are set for a repeat, possibly in Australia as well three months down the line when India travel down under for the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
But September 19 will be an emotional day for Pant, when he steps onto the field in the first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.