India’s star wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was hospitalised after surviving a tragic car accident on Friday morning. The cricketer was on his way back home to Uttrakhand to surprise his mother and celebrate New Year at his native house, when his Mercedes collided with a road divider on the Delhi-Dehradun highway around 5:30 am on Friday morning. Pant’s car burst into flames and the keeper-batter had to break the windshield to escape the car and survive the impact. Later, the cricketer admitted that he dozed off while driving.
After the accident, some rumors have been making rounds on the internet that states that Pant was looted by locals in the area after the crash. However, an eye-witness has denied all these claims as he revealed that he himself collected all the money that was scattered around him and handed it to Pant. Susheel, a bus driver, helped Rishabh escape the car and also called the ambulance and Police later. He revealed:
“He had also scattered his money on the road, which we picked up and handed them to him in his hands,”
It has emerged that the bus driver Susheel was the first one to reach the scene. He stopped his bus, which was on the other side of the road and immediately came to Pant’s help. Susheel revealed how he and his conducted rescued Pant. They were later joined by 3 more people. The bus driver revealed the whole incident:
“I am a driver with Haryana Roadways, Panipat depot. Our bus has left Haridwar at 4:25 in the morning. I was on my way when I saw a car, being driven at a lot of speed, got disbalanced and crashed into the divider. After the impact, the car landed on the wrong side of the road – the one that goes to Delhi. The car had screeched onto the second lane of the road seeing which I immediately applied the brakes. The car had already caught sparks so I and the conductor rushed to get him out of the car. By then the fire has started. Then, three more people came running and got him on a safe side,”
He added: “We began to cry for help but no one came. I called the National Highway, no one answered. Then I ran up the police and the conductor called for an ambulance. We kept asking him he is he fine. Offered him some water. After regrouping, he told us he is Rishabh Pant. I don’t follow cricket so I didn’t know who he was but my conductor then told me ‘Sushil… he is an India cricketer’,”
Furthermore, the driver also revealed that when they met Rishabh, he had no clothes on and his face was completely covered in blood. He said: “He gave us his mother’s number. We called her but her phone was switched off. The ambulance arrived after 15 minutes and we got in him. I asked him if he was alone in the car. He said there is no one. His face was covered in blood and his clothes torn and his back was scratched. He was panicking and limping,”
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has issued a statement and revealed the full extent of the injuries to the keeper-batter. The BCCI has stated that Pant has two cuts on his forehead, a ligament tear in his right knee, and has also hurt his right wrist, ankle, and toe and has suffered abrasion injuries on his back. The BCCI also clarified that Pant’s condition is stable now.
