Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant has suffered injuries after his car met with an accident in north Indian Uttarakhand state in the early hours of Friday, likely ruling him out of the upcoming World Cup 2023.
The wicket-keeper and star batsman has suffered two cuts on his forehead, a ligament tear in his right knee and has also hurt his right wrist, ankle, and a toe. He also has abrasion injuries on his back, India’s national cricket board said in a statement.
Pant’s condition remains stable and he has now been shifted to Max Hospital, Dehradun, “where he will undergo MRI scans to ascertain the extent of his injuries and formulate further course of treatment”, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said on Friday.
The photos of the accident showed Pant’s car Mercedes-AMG GLE43 Coupe charred to its bare structure after it hit a road divider of the national highway connecting New Delhi to north Indian state Uttarakhand around 5.30am.
The 25-year-old, who was on his way to his home state Uttarakhand and alone in the car at the time of accident, fell asleep while driving on the stretch, police officials said, citing the ace Indian cricketer’s statement. As a result, his car collided with the division on the road and caught fire in Haridwar district, around 124 miles from New Delhi, they said.
“The BCCI is in constant touch with Rishabh’s family while the medical team is in close contact with the doctors currently treating Rishabh,” the Indian cricket board said, adding that the top authority will ensure that he receives “the best possible medical care and gets all the support he needs to come out of this traumatic phase”.
Pant managed to escape the car which caught fire within minutes, by shattering the windscreen and getting out of the mangled remains to avoid fatality, reported Indian newspaper Hindustan Times.
Uttarakhand’s state minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that the Indian cricketer will be airlifted from Dehradun to New Delhi if needed and added that the state administration will bear the expenses of all the treatment needed for Pant.
The wicket-keeper could likely undergo skin grafting or plastic surgery on his back, the report said, adding that this could likely keep him out of playing any form of cricket for at least the next one year.
