Bengaluru: Shyam Sharma, the Director of Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA), said Rishabh Pant is responding adequately to the rehab he is currently undergoing at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, while adding that the India wicketkeeper-batter can be expected to be declared fit once this year’s ODI World Cup is over.

“Rishabh Pant is doing well. He’s responding adequately (to the rehab). He can be fine (in terms of fitness) after the ODI World Cup happens (in October-November) and will come out (of the NCA) only after being declared fully fit, whenever it happens,” Sharma told IANS after meeting Pant at the NCA in Bengaluru.

On December 30, 2022, around 5:30am, Pant, 25, miraculously survived when his Mercedes car hit a divider and caught fire on the Delhi-Dehradun highway while on the way to his hometown Roorkee. The horrific car accident happened between Manglaur and Narsan in the Haridwar district in the state of Uttarakhand.

Pant was initially taken to Saksham Hospital Multispecialty and Trauma Centre, before being admitted to Max Hospital, Dehradun. On January 4, Pant was airlifted to Mumbai for right knee surgery and further treatment for multiple injuries at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri West, Mumbai.

Since April, Pant has been undergoing rehab at the NCA, where he has started to walk without crutches and climb stairs without taking any support. Sharma added that it was heartening to see Pant make progress in his recovery at the NCA via climbing up the stairs and walking on soil as well as on grass.

“His ongoing rehabilitation at the NCA is happening very well. He’s doing a lot of exercises also. I was there at the NCA for half an hour or so. He’s being made to do all the exercises related to walking, climbing stairs and is also walking on the soil, or on grass,” added Sharma.

At the NCA, physios S Rajnikanth and Thulasi Ram Yuvaraj are believed to be working on Pant’s rehab. Apart from Sharma, DDCA Director Harish Singla was also there to meet the left-handed batter at the NCA.

“He’s being attended to by specialists at the NCA. In the time I was there at the NCA, he was doing well. From the mental perspective, he looked fit and fine. Like, I can say the tiger is getting ready to roar back,” concluded Sharma.

Pant, who made his international cricket debut in February 2017, was last seen in action when India sealed a 2-0 Test series victory over Bangladesh in December 2022. In the second Test which ended on December 25, he hit a match-winning 93 in India’s first innings at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

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