Rishabh Pant with PM Narendra Modi© AFP
Rishabh Pant’s comeback from his career-threatening accident to winning the T20 World Cup has been nothing short of a miracle. He was one of the star attractions when the World Champions went to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi upon landing in India on Thursday. PM Modi spoke to Pant and asked him about his road to recovery and what was going through his head in what was perhaps one of the toughest challenges the left-handed wicketkeeper had to face. Pant revealed that his mother received a call from PM Modi after his accident.
“I want to start by thanking you so much for the invitation. My accident took place around 1-1.5 years back and I also remember that you called my mother when it had happened. There were a lot of things going through my mind at that point but when my mother told me you called and said ‘there won’t be any problem,’ that made me relax mentally,” said Pant to the Hon. Prime Minister.
Pant made his comeback during the 2024 IPL season where he valiantly led the Delhi Capitals side and went on to score 446 runs in 13 games while averaging 40.55 which earned him a spot in the squad for the World Cup. The mercurial left-hand batsman scored 171 runs in eight matches for the team and was solid behind the stumps in the T20 World Cup.
“During recovery, I used to keep hearing whether I would be able to play again or not. There was a lot of talk on whether I could do wicket-keeping again. So that was in my mind through the past two years. I used to think when I make a return to the field I will try to improve, not for anyone’s validation, but only to prove to myself that I can play international cricket and help India win,” added the Delhi Capitals captain.
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