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Star Indian player Rishabh Pant suffered a horrific accident in December 2022. The 26-year-old experienced multiple career-threatening injuries after his vehicle slammed into a divider at the Delhi-Dehradun highway. Notwithstanding, Pant made a wonderful rebound this year, highlighting in competitive cricket again since his mishap during the Indian Premier League (IPL). He also plyed key part in India's T20 World Cup-winning effort in June. As he did last time, Pant will have to play a crucial middle-order role for India when they travel to Australia later this year for a five-match Test series. Ricky Ponting, the former captain of Australia, has spoken out about Pant's rise and praised him as a match-winner.
"We've all seen him play and heard him in the stump mic, he's an infectious character to have around the group. He loves his cricket, he's a winner, that's what he is. He doesn't just play to make a few runs and be out there for the fun of it. He must have 4 or 5 Test hundreds already and he's got about nine 90s as well. [MS] Dhoni played for 120 Tests (90) and made 3 or 4 hundreds (6), this is how good this guy (Pant) is. He's a serious cricketer," Ponting told Sky Sports.
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Ponting was Pant's coach at Delhi Capitals and was continually in contact with him during his recovery cycle. In spite of the psychological and actual difficulties, Ponting hailed Pant for his sooner than-anticipated rebound to cricket.
"It's a remarkable comeback. If you can see even his leg now and listen to the stories he tells about what he confronted during his car accident, just the mental scarring that comes with that but the physical side and the rehab he went through, I didn't think he would play last year's IPL (2024) but 12 months before, he said 'Don't worry about me, I guarantee you I'll be right for the IPL'. We thought he'll be able to bat and we might have to use him as a sub player (Impact Player) but he kept every game, was one of our leading run-scorers, bats No. 3 in the T20 World Cup and is part of a World Cup winning team and is named in the Test squad now," he added.
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