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The cricketing fraternity on Friday, December 30, woke up to the news of Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant being involved in a horrific car accident. As per initial reports, the 25-year-old suffered injuries to his forehead, back, and legs.
The accident took place near Roorkee as the cricketer’s car collided with a divider on the Delhi-Dehradun highway while he was traveling from Uttarakhand to Delhi. It has been confirmed that Pant was alone in the car at the time of the accident. He broke a window to escape after the vehicle caught fire.
Providing an official update on the cricketer’s accident and subsequent treatment, the BCCI released a statement and gave details about Pant’s injuries. The statement read:
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“Rishabh has two cuts on his forehead, a ligament tear in his right knee and has also hurt his right wrist, ankle, toe and has suffered abrasion injuries on his back. Rishabh’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 his further course of treatment.”
2022 has not been a kind year for Pant, both on and off the cricket field. Sadly, the accident has only made it worse.
As the cricketer begins his fightback from yet another setback, we look back at the tough times Pant has had to face in 2022.
No-ball controversy in IPL 2022 match
Pant was involved in a massive controversy during the IPL 2022 match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). In the last over of the game, RR left-arm pacer Obed McCoy bowled a high full-toss to Rovman Powell.
The DC camp thought it was a clear no-ball based on height. However, the on-field umpires ruled it a fair delivery. Pant, who was sitting in the DC dugout, was highly agitated and gestured towards Powell and Kuldeep Yadav (non-striker) to come out. Assistant coach Pravin Amre even went into the playing arena but was told to leave by the umpires.
Subsequently, Pant and Amre were fined their entire match fee for breaching the IPL Code of Conduct. The latter was also handed a one-match ban, while all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who also reacted angrily, was penalized 50 percent of his match fee.
White-ball woes
While Pant continued his impressive performances with the willow in Test matches in 2022, he struggled to make an impact in the white-ball formats. Barring a 125* against England in Manchester in the deciding ODI, the southpaw had a year to forget with the bat in limited-overs matches.
He managed only 364 runs in 25 T20Is at an average of 21.41 in 2022. Pant did somewhat better in ODIs, scoring 336 runs in 12 matches at an average of 37.33. The left-handed batter had a poor white-ball tour of New Zealand, registering scores of six, 11, 15, and 10.
He requested rest from the Bangladesh ODIs, but was impressive in Tests on return, scoring 46, 93, and nine in the two-match Test series.
His red-ball numbers remained far superior to his limited-overs stats in 2022 as well. In seven Tests in 2022, Pant smacked 680 runs at an average of 61.81, with two hundreds.
The Urvashi Rautela controversy
In an interview with the Bollywood portal ‘Bollywood Hungama’ in August this year, actor Urvashi Rautela claimed that a person named 'RP' waited for hours to meet her in Delhi. While the showbiz personality did not specify who the person was, many felt she was referring to Pant as there have been rumors of the two dating in the past.
An annoyed Pant himself reacted to the interview and hit out at Rautela in a now-deleted Insta story. Without naming anyone, the keeper-batter posted:
“It’s funny how people lie in interviews just for some meager popularity and for hitting headlines. Sad how some people are so thirsty for fame and name. May God bless them. #merapichachorhoBehen #jhutkibhilimithotihai.”
Although Pant had deleted his post, Rautela came up with a riposte and lashed out at the keeper-batter. She wrote on her official Facebook account:
“Chotu bhaiyaa should play bat ball. Main koyi munni nahi hoon badnam hone with young kiddo darling tere liyee. (Small brother should play bat ball. I am not a Munni to be infamous for a young kiddo darling).”
The actor also attended India-Pakistan matches during the Asia Cup 2022 in the UAE.
Unruly crowd tease Pant using Rautela’s name
Even as Pant was battling his demons on the cricket field, some so-called cricket fans needlessly teased him using Rautela’s name during the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
In a video that went viral, the keeper-batter was seen walking by behind the boundary rope. Upon spotting him, a person from the crowd yelled"
“Bhai, Urvashi bula rahi hai (Brother, Urvashi is calling).”
A visibly frustrated Pant hit back at the unruly fan as he continued to walk past the crowd.
The 25-year-old played only two matches in the T20 World Cup in Australia, scoring three and six runs. His first game was the last Super 12 match against Zimbabwe and the second was the semi-final versus England.
Trolled for ‘arrogance’ during an interview with Harsha Bhogle
Questions were raised about Pant’s attitude after some fans felt he gave a rude response to a question from Harsha Bhogle during an interview. The incident occurred during the New Zealand tour.
When Bhogle pointed out that the cricketer had a better record in Tests compared to white-ball cricket, Pant replied:
“Record is just a number, my white-ball record is not bad either. Comparison is not a part of my life, I’m just 24-25 so you can compare once I’m 30-32. There’s no logic in comparing before that.”
While there was nothing wrong with the cricketer’s answer, it was the tone that most people had a problem with.
Dropped or rested for the Sri Lanka series?
Following continued failures in white-ball cricket, Pant was not included in the Indian team for the home series against Sri Lanka, which begins on January 3.
While it was initially stated that the stumper had been dropped, subsequent reports claimed that Pant was rested as he had a niggle and was asked to report to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for a knee strengthening rehabilitation for two weeks.
However, there was no official update from the BCCI over Pant’s absence from the white-ball squads for the Sri Lanka series.
As Pant recuperates from his injuries, we wish him a speedy recovery and hope he has a much-better 2023 in store.
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