[Watch] “Then I became a little calm mentally” – Rishabh Pant expresses gratitude to PM Modi for calling his mother after his car accident
Rishabh Pant expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2024 T20 World Cup champions meet in New Delhi on Thursday, July 4. The wicketkeeper-batter reminded how his phone call helped him stay calm during a horrific situation while recovering from his multiple injuries in hospital after a car accident.
Pant said he was keen to make his national comeback and deliver in international cricket. In a video released by ANI, he said (via PMO):
"1.5 years ago I had an accident, so I was going through a very difficult phase, I remember that very well because your call came to my mother and my mother told me that Sir had said that there is no problem, then I became a little calm mentally.
"After that, during recovery, I used to hear from people whether I would ever be able to play cricket or not, so for the last 1.5 years I was thinking that I should come back to the field and do better than what I was doing," he added.
Watch the clip below:
Notably, Rishabh Pant made his comeback to professional cricket after 15 months with IPL 2024. The Delhi Capitals (DC) captain amassed 446 runs in his 13 innings, hitting three half-centuries. The southpaw continued his exploits in the 2024 T20 World Cup, scoring 171 runs in eight games at a strike rate of 127.61.
“Esa lag raha tha jese woh mujhe ashwasan de rahi hai” – PM Modi lauds Rishabh Pant’s mother
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lauded Rishabh Pant’s mother for her self-belief during a tough period when the latter got injured in a car accident. The 73-year-old said he discussed with the doctors whether Pant had to be sent abroad for better treatment. To his surprise, Pant’s mother gave him hope:
“When you were undergoing recovery, I had talked to your mother. I had told her two things, I had first discussed with the doctor, I had taken the opinion if there’s need to take him out of country then tell me, we’ll think about it. But, I was shocked about your mother’s self-belief. When I was talking to her, it felt like, I didn’t have familiarity with her because I’d not met her.
“Esa lag raha tha jese woh mujhe ashwasan de rahi hai (It felt like she is giving me hope) [chuckles]. It was so amusing. I felt that someone who has a mother like her won’t fail and you proved it,” PM Modi added.
Rishabh Pant's mother has played a big role in his cricketing journey. The Uttarakhand-born cricketer would travel with his mother to Delhi on weekends to practice at Sonnet Cricket Academy. They used to stay in Gurudwara in Moti Bagh during their struggle. She is the only guardian of Pant as her husband (Pant's father) died of cardiac arrest in April 2017.