Rishabh Pant to be sidelined for majority of 2023 after tearing three key knee ligaments: Report

India wicketkeeperbatter Rishabh Pant is highly expected to be sidelined from a majority of cricketing action in 2023 after tearing three key ligaments on his right kneeA report by ESPNCricinfo says Pant who miraculously survived a horrific car crash on December 30 has torn all three key ligaments in his right knee two of which were reconstructed recently during the surgery which happened on January 6 while the reconstruction of the third torn ligament is expected after six weeksAll three ligaments in the knee anterior cruciate ligament posterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament which are necessary for movement and stability have been torn in Pants caseIt is understood that in the surgery conducted recently both the PCL and MCL were reconstructed Pant will need to undergo another surgery to reconstruct his ACL but the doctors will wait for at least six weeks before going ahead with it said the reportAs a result Pant is in danger of being sidelined from the game for at least six months which can potentially affect his chances of being fit and available for selection for the 2023 ODI World Cup scheduled to take place in India in OctoberNovemberAlso Read Mumbai Cricketer Rishabh Pant recovering takes first walk after surgeryOn December 30 around 530am Pant 25 suffered multiple injuries when his car collided with a road divider and caught fire on the DelhiDehradun highway The horrific car accident happened between Manglaur and Narsan in the Haridwar district in the state of UttarakhandPant was initially taken to Saksham Hospital Multispecialty and Trauma Centre before being admitted to Max Hospital Dehradun He was on his way to his hometown Roorkee from New Delhi and was alone while driving his Mercedes carOn January 4 the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that Pant would be shifted from Dehradun to Mumbai via an air ambulance for surgery and further treatment where he is now under direct supervision of Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala the head of the Centre for Sports Medicine and Director of Arthroscopy amp Shoulder Service at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri West MumbaiThe first medical update from the BCCI hours after the accident on December 30 said apart from right knee ligament tear Pant suffered two cuts on his forehead and has also hurt his right wrist ankle and toe apart from abrasion injuries on his backLater that evening a medical bulletin said the results of Pants MRI of the brain and spine came out as normal It added that Pant also underwent plastic surgery to manage his facial injuries lacerated wounds and abrasionsThe report also said that there is no definitive timeline given by the doctors yet on how long it would take Pant to resume training for playing cricket It added that the Board of Control for Cricket in India BCCI and the selectors have concluded that the wicketkeeperbatter would be out for a minimum of six monthsIt implies that Pant will miss whiteball series against New Zealand four Tests for the BorderGavaskar Trophy and three ODIs against Australia IPL 2023 where he is captain of Delhi Capitals and World Test Championship WTC final in June if India makes it to the title clashIn his absence KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan are the wicketkeeping options for the first two Tests against Australia Bharat and Ishan are also included as keeping options for the threematch ODI series against New Zealand starting from January 18 Ishan and Jitesh Sharma are the keeping options for T20Is against New Zealand which follows after the ODI seriesPant who made his international cricket debut in February 2017 was part of the India Test squad that sealed a 20 series victory over Bangladesh in Dhaka in December 2022 In that match which ended on December 25 he hit a matchwinning 93 in the first innings of the second Test at the ShereBangla National Cricket StadiumThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever