Pant set to be out of action for at least six months: Report

India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will be out of action for at least six months and is set to miss marquee events like the Indian Premier League 2023 and the 50-over World Cup, ESPNcricinfo reported on Saturday (January 14).

The 25-year-old, who survived a car crash on December 30, has torn all three key ligaments in his knee - anterior cruciate ligament, posterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament. 

He recently underwent surgery and got two (PCL and MCL) of those fixed, while surgery on the third (ACL) is expected after six weeks.

Pant was admitted to the Mumbai hospital after being airlifted from Dehradun on January 4 where he was undergoing treatment before going through emergency care at the Saksham Hospital in Roorkee. 

Pant was on his way to Roorkee from Delhi see his mother on December 30 when his car crashed after colliding with a divider on a national highway. Two attentive employees of the Haryana transport quickly pulled Pant out of the car, which caught in flames.

MRI scans to his brain and spine returned normal, but scans to his knee and foot had to be postponed due to the swelling in his foot.

Pant has been under the direct supervision of Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala who is the head of Centre for Sports Medicine, and Director - Arthroscopy & Shoulder Service at the hospital. He has treated cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar and others in the past.

Before his accident, Pant had participated in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, following which he was rested for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka. He was due to take part in a strength and conditioning camp at the NCA, Bangalore ahead of the Test series against Australia, starting February 9.

The BCCI, on Friday, announced the squad for the first two Tests against Australia and have named KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan as the wicketkeeper options. 

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly recently confirmed that Pant won’t feature in the upcoming edition of the IPL 2023 and by the looks of it, he will also miss the World Cup, which is slated to be played in India in October-November this year.