New Delhi: After surviving the life-threatening accident, Rishabh Pant revealed one of his dialogues which he followed and motivated him to work on his fitness and keep belief that he would be able to return to top-flight cricket again, and even if that needed a miracle, he was sure he would pull off one.
Pant believes that going through an injury of more than three months can be more frustrating and hence you need motivation to return to things which need to be done. He also
The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) released Part 1 of the 'Miracle Man' series based on Pant’s recovery and the depth of the injury.
‘Two or three months (time) is still okay because it somehow gets passed, but in this kind of injury, you get frustrated much more. I was in that phase of mind, like there is one of my dialogues that ‘Being happy or either by being sad, you have to get the job done,” Pant said.
The 26-year-old also mentioned that setting small goals, achieving them and moving towards the best was the mantra for him and those enjoying those small victories were the high moments of him.
“There are so many small things like when I started walking without crutches slowly, slowly that was one of my highs of the recovery period at least from my side. Then I started slowly jogging. That was another high for me, then started a little batting of mine, that was another high then started keeping,” he added.
Pant, who will be leading Delhi Capitals (DC) in the forthcoming Indian Premier League, mentioned that he has enjoyed whatever he did during his rehab and tried to make the most out of it.
“I think I took joy in each and everything. It was not like that I was looking for only one thing, because if you don’t enjoy whatever you’re doing it’s gonna get difficult to come out of it. So I have tried to have joy in each and everything and try to make the most of it,” the southpaw batter further said.
Since his fatal car accident to achieve match fitness, Pant has learned that having an attitude to express gratitude and appreciation is important when you face such a huge setback in life.
“Because the physical part of the mental part still you can manage it personally but at the same time to make it happen you need so many people around you and then put in a lot of effort, so I appreciate that part also and you have to learn at the same time that when people are helping you around. You also understand the importance of gratitude and appreciation in life when you have setbacks like this.”
Pant’s treating doctor, renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dinshaw Pardiwala, was not so optimistic, but the southpaw batter put all his worries to bed by simply describing himself as a "miracle man".
"When you get back to competitive cricket, it will be a miracle.. after a high-velocity knee dislocation, in this kind of a situation... But that's when he said, 'I am a miracle man. I have managed two, I will certainly manage a third'," Pardiwala recalled his conversation with the cricketer in a show documenting Pant's incredible comeback to action after 14 months.
As the swashbuckling batter gets ready to return to action in the upcoming Indian Premier League, Dhananjay Kaushik, the physiotherapist at National Cricket Academy (NCA), spoke about the severity of the injuries the player suffered in that accident in 2022.
"If you are talking about the right knee, none of the ligaments were spared during that accident. If you are talking about ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), lateral collateral ligament ligament, medial collateral ligament...
"Also a part of the quadriceps, you name it and he didn't have it. I think if there is anyone who could make a comeback, it's just Rishabh only, with the kind of effort and attitude he has got. The way he takes things in his stride...," Kaushik said.
Pant was cleared to play the IPL by the BCCI on Tuesday. It is expected that he will play as a wicket-keeper batter in the entire IPL. The franchise will kick off their campaign against Punjab Kings in Mohali on March 23.
He met with a horrific car crash in December 2022, while driving to his home in Roorkee. He suffered multiple injuries and a ligament reconstruction surgery had to be performed on his right knee. He was also left to nurse a fractured wrist and ankle.
The 26-year-old underwent an extensive rehabilitation and recovery process at the National Cricket Academy following the accident.
On Pant's journey, Nishanta Bordoloi, the strength & conditioning specialist at NCA, said it has made him more resilient and strong.
"Every incident in our life has a certain kind of outcome and I think, if not anything else, it has made him a better human being, having a better understanding of life, respecting life as a whole, respecting things around, made him more resilient, more stronger," Bordoloi said.
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