Hyderabad: Rishabh Pant's car crash has petrified the entire nation as people cutting across the political spectrum to sports fraternity and business tycoons wished him a speedy recovery. On Friday, Pant's vehicle wobbled and crashed into a divider of the road to burn into flames after he fell asleep while driving.
The 25-year-old, who was on his way to his hometown Roorkee to surprise his mother, suffered injuries on his head, back, and feet but is stable following the accident in Manglaur in Uttarakhand's Haridwar district.
While Twitter was loaded with heavy traffic on Pant's accident, an old video of Delhi Capitals caught the attention of social media users. The video features Shikhar Dhawan and Pant himself. In the short clip, Pant is seen seeking advice from Dhawan. "One advice you would like to give to me?" Pant is seen asking during a conversation. To which Dhawan responded, "Gaadi aaram se chalaya kar (you should drive carefully)."
"Pant met with an accident in Manglaur in Haridwar district when his car hit a divider at 5.30 am on Friday," Haridwar SSP Ajai Singh said. "He was rushed to Saksham hospital in nearby Roorkee from where he was referred later to Max Hospital, Dehradun," he added.
Also read: Haryana roadways bus driver, conductor rescue Pant, honored with an appreciation certificate
The accident happened at Mohammadpur Jat in Manglaur. Dr. Sushil Nagar, who treated Pant in emergency, said the cricketer didn't suffer any fracture but there was a ligament injury on his knee which would require further investigations.
"When he was brought to our hospital, he was fully conscious and I spoke to him. He wanted to surprise his mother and was going back home," Dr Nagar said. Pant was left out of the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka beginning on January 3 as he was supposed to join the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for strength and conditioning programme ahead of February's Border Gavaskar Trophy.
As of now, there is no clarity on his availability for the series against Australia. Pant has scored 2,271 runs in 33 Tests so far with the help of five hundreds and 11 fifties. He has also represented the country in 30 ODIs and 66 T20Is.