Ancient Team India head coach Ravi Shastriwe wondered if Rishabh pants reportedly has a future in cricket, after he was involved in a horrific car accident in 2022. The 62-year-old described the wicketkeeper-batsman’s recovery as a “miracle”. Rishabh pants had already made a comeback to white-ball cricket during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He later returned to the longest format through the Duleep Trophy.

Rishabh pants was also recently part of the Indian squad for the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. The left-handed batter now hopes to set the stage on fire in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which begins on November 22 in Perth.

“Honestly, if you had seen him, you wouldn’t have given him hope of playing cricket again. I will never forget him. He was in a terrible state. I went to see him in the hospital one months after he was injured, he was beaten and bruised, covered in scars everywhere,” Shastri was quoted as saying by news.com.au.

“He had a massive operation and had stitches everywhere. From there, recovering and playing cricket was a miracle. To go on to play in a World Cup winning team and to be part of the Test team is a truly remarkable achievement,” he added.

Pant has ‘more respect for the game’

Rishabh Pant has averaged 62 in his last two tours of Australia, and it’s fair to say he loves playing down under. Who can forget his unbeaten match-winner at the Gabba to help a hurting Indian team shock Australia to seal the series 2-1.

“When you talk to him now, the respect he has for the game is even greater. He was nowhere. Suddenly he’s back and he’s enjoying it. But I have seen him working very, very hard over the last few months to get in shape to play Test cricket,” Shastri said.

Rishabh Pant was traveling to Uttarakhand when his Mercedes SUV hit a road strip and as a result, his car overturned, immediately catching fire, prompting the wicketkeeper to break the windshield to get out .

“It’s the first time in my life that I had this feeling of letting go. I felt my time in this world was over,” Pant told Star Sports.

“When my accident happened, I felt like something spiritual had saved me. I can’t even imagine how much worse it could have been. The doctors even talked to me about amputation,” he added.

Rishabh Pant was then flown to Mumbai, and that’s where all three ligaments in his knee were reconstructed.

“I asked the doctor how long it would take me to recover. He said it would take 16-18 months,” Pant said. “I told the doctor that whatever time he gave me, I would reduce it by six months,” he added.