Former India coach Ravi Shastri recalls the time he visited Rishabh Pant in hospital after his injury and calls his recovery a “miracle”. “Honestly, if you had seen him you wouldn’t have given him a hope in hell of playing cricket again,” Shastri was quoted as saying by the Australian news portal before BGT.

With the 2024 T20 World Cup ahead of him, Pant returned to white-ball cricket during the IPL before returning to red-ball cricket through the Duleep Trophy and was also part of India’s recent Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

“I’ll never forget it. He was in terrible shape. I went to see him in hospital a month after he was injured. He was battered and bruised, scars all over.

“He had a massive operation and had stitches all over. From there to simply recover and play cricket was a miracle. To go on to play in a World Cup winning team and to be part of the Test team is truly remarkable. achievement,” he added.

Pant averaged 62 in his two tours in Australia and has been in incredible form since his return to the game. “He returns to Australia for this tour in form and a man Australia fears, an unthinkable prospect when he was rushed to hospital unable to walk,” Shastri said.

“When you talk to him now, the respect he has for the game is even greater. He was nowhere.

“All of a sudden he’s back and he values ​​it. But I’ve seen him work hard over the last few months to get into the shape he is in to play Test cricket.” Pant met with a horrific car accident in December 2022 while returning to his hometown Roorkee from New Delhi.

Had it not been for some good Samaritans and his presence of mind that led him to smash the windshield of his car, the accident could have been fatal for him.

“For the first time in my life I had that feeling of letting go. I felt that my time in this world was over,” Pant told Star Sports.

“When my accident happened, I felt something spiritual saved me. I can’t even imagine how much worse it could have been. The doctors even talked to me about amputation.” Pant was later flown to Mumbai, where he underwent reconstruction of three knee ligaments.

“I asked the doctor how long it would take me to recover. He said it would take 16 to 18 months,” Pant said.

“I told the doctor that whatever timeline he gave me, I was going to cut it to six months.”

(With PTI inputs)