04 January 2023 , 16:02
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India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been airlifted to a hospital in Mumbai to undergo surgery after he was involved in a horrific car crash that saw his Mercedes SUV go up in flames.
Pant, who has made more than 100 appearances of India across all formats, was driving home to Uttarakhand to spend New Years with his mother when police said he "dozed off" and lost control of the vehicle.
The car flipped over twice and crashed into a road divider before bursting into flames, with Pant rescued by bystanders and avoiding any life-threatening injuries. The 25-year-old was taken to a local hospital in Roorkee before being moved to one in Dehradun.
There he underwent plastic surgery on his wounds, while MRI scans on his brain and spine were normal. Now, Pant has been airlifted to Mumbai as he needs immediate surgery on ligament tears in his knee.
In a statement, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) said: "Rishabh will undergo surgery and subsequent procedures for ligament tears and will continue to be monitored by the BCCI Medical Team throughout his recovery and rehabilitation.
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"The Board will make every effort to aid and expedite the recovery process of Rishabh and will provide him with all the support he needs during this period."
Pant had a lucky escape and has now been airlifted to a hospital in Mumbai (Stu Forster/Getty Images)Pant was not part of India's T20I and ODI squads for the ongoing white-ball series' against Sri Lanka and was instead set for strength and conditioning training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru ahead of the upcoming Test series against Australia in February.
Hardik Pandya, who is captaining India in the T20Is, wished Pant a "speedy recovery", saying: "What happened is very unfortunate, no one has control over it. As a team we wish him all the best, our love and prayers are always with him.
"Wish him a speedy recovery. Obviously, he was a very important part of the team, now everyone knows the situation and lot of other people can get opportunities."