NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant's plan to surprise his mother ahead of the new year turned into a horrific accident after the Indian cricketer got seriously injured when his car collided with a road divider on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, on Friday. The accident happened at Mohammadpur Jat in Manglaur town of Haridwar district.
The 25-year-old dozed off and lost control of his Mercedes early morning on Friday en route to his home in Roorkee.
The star India wicket-keeper batter was lucky to survive serious injuries as he jumped off his Mercedes in the nick of time as the car went up in flames after hitting the divider.
His car overturned uncontrollably while breaking the railings of road dividers and pillars at a turn near Mohammadpur Jhal on Narsan border in Roorkee, after which the car caught fire.
Pant was admitted to Saksham Hospital on Delhi Road, from where he has been shifted to Dehradun Max Hospital.
Dr Sushil Nagar, who was the first to attend to Pant in the emergency ward of Saksham Hospital near Roorkee, said the cricketer didn't suffer any fracture but there was a ligament injury on his knee which would require further investigation.
Pant suffered injuries on his head, back and feet but is in a stable condition, he said.
"He had two lacerations (blunt trauma) on his head but I didn't put stitches. I have recommended him to Max Hospital where a plastic surgeon might see him," Dr Sushil Nagar added.
The big bruises on Pant's back are not burn injuries, the doctor assured. "The injuries happened because he jumped out of the car by breaking the window of his car as soon as it caught fire. As he landed on the side of the road on his rear, the skin peeled off. But those are not burn injuries and not very serious."
The fire was brought under control after a lot of effort. By then, villagers and police also reached the spot.
Fire brigade vehicles reached the spot and brought the fire under control.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said his government will bear the entire expense of Pant's treatment. However, Pant is a centrally contracted player and the BCCI will take full care of all his medical expenses.
Ligament injuries have various grades and it can take 2 to 6 months to regain full fitness, which puts a serious question mark over Pant's availability for the home Test series against Australia, starting February 9.
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Pant was not part of the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka beginning on January 3.
He was supposed to join the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for a strength and conditioning programme ahead of February's Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The explosive left-handed wicket-keeper batter has scored 2,271 runs in 33 Tests so far with the help of five hundreds and 11 half-centuries.
He has also represented the country in 30 ODIs and 66 T20Is, scoring 865 and 987 runs respectively.
(With inputs from PTI, Express News Service)