Rishabh Pant’s knee was lying almost 90 degrees to the normal position after car accident: Doctor

Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, the surgeon who operated on Rishabh Pant after his car accident in December 2022, has disclosed that the player's knee was lying almost 90 degrees to the normal position after his horrific car crash.

The doctor added that the keeper-batter needed help from someone at the accident site to straighten his knee so that he could get out of the car.

Pant has been out of competitive cricket since a horrific car crash on the morning of December 30, 2022. After more than a year of rehabilitation, he's gearing up to make a comeback during the Indian Premier League 2024 season, which begins on March 22.

In part one of a special video series titled ‘Miracle Man’ on bcci.tv, Dr. Pardiwala, Director, Centre for Sports Medicine, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai, spoke in detail about the complications involved with Pant’s injury and the challenges of operating on him.

“Whenever you get a knee dislocation, then you are going to break many things around it,” Dr. Pardiwala said.

“His two major injuries were the knee and the ankle for the right knee and the right ankle. His right knee had a dislocation,” he added.

Dr. Pardiwala elaborated that Pant’s skin got scraped off when he was being pulled out of the car, as there were glass pieces around, which added to his existing injuries.

“Rishabh remembers very well that his knee was completely out and was lying almost 90 degrees to the normal position. He, in fact, required a little bit of help from someone there to straighten his knee so that he could get out of the car and be pulled out," the doctor said.

"During the process of being pulled out, because there was glass pieces everywhere, his skin got scraped off, so that added to the whole, you know, soft tissue injury part of it. So, from the bone and joint part, he had, you know, broken a lot of things,” he added.

Terming knee dislocation as one of the worst injuries for knee surgeons, Dr. Pardiwala added that Pant’s blood vessels and nerves being intact were a big plus.

“Fortunately for him, his blood vessels, which supply the blood supply to the rest of the leg, that was intact, and his nerves, which supply sensation were also intact.

"For us as knee surgeons, knee dislocation is one of the worst injuries because everything breaks. And, when everything breaks, you need to get back the stability, and your ligaments give it stability,” the doctor said.

He added:

“You need to get back the shock absorption capability. So, that’s the meniscus, which was torn, so that needs to be taken care of. You need to get back movement, so that the knee doesn’t get stiff and, at the same time, you need enough muscle strength to allow that movement,” he added.

Pant has returned to training ahead of IPL 2024 and has shared videos of his keeping and batting drills on social media.

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“None of the ligaments were spared during that accident” - NCA physiotherapist on Pant’s injuries

Sharing his observations on the injuries Pant suffered in the accident, Dhananjay Kaushik, Physiotherapist, NCA revealed that all of the player's ligaments in the right knee were damaged.

“If you are talking about the right knee, none of the ligaments were spared during that accident. So, you talk about ACL, PCL, lateral collateral ligament, medial collateral ligament - you name it, and he didn’t have it,” he told bcci.tv.

Kaushik, though, praised Pant for his mental resolve in the aftermath of the car accident and asserted:

“I think if there is anyone who could make a comeback from this, it’s just Rishabh Pant. With the kind of attitude he has got..."

Pant will most likely to be seen in action when Delhi Capitals take on Punjab King in Mohali on March 23.