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Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Rishabh Pant's car blew up and he stared death in the face, says surgeon who saved him
'Rishabh Pant was extremely lucky to be alive – extremely lucky.' Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, the orthopaedic surgeon who treated the Indian cricket superstar after his car crash, is in no doubt about his fortune. 'To be in an accident like this, where the car actually overturns and blows up, the risk of death is extremely high.' On December 30, 2022, flamboyant wicketkeeper Pant – who made history by scoring two centuries in one Test against England at Headingley – drove from Delhi to his home town of Roorkee. At 5:30am, Pant lost control of his car on the Delhi-Dehradun highway. His vehicle skidded for 200 metres before hitting the road divider. While the Mercedes burned, Pant's right knee twisted at 90 degrees. 'My time in this world is over,' Pant thought to himself, he later said. He was just 25 years old – a year older than James Dean when he suffered his fatal car crash. But Pant and two passers-by broke open a window to allow him to escape before the car set on fire. Pant was hospitalised with major injuries to his head, back and feet. After a week in local hospitals, Pant was airlifted to Mumbai. 'When he first came in, he had a dislocated right knee,' Pardiwala recalls. 'He also had an injury to his right ankle, lots of other minor injuries all over. He had a lot of skin loss, so his entire skin from the nape of the neck down to his knees was completely scraped off in the process of that accident. Then getting out of the car – that broken glass scraped off a lot of the skin and the flesh from his back.' If Pant's first great fortune was to be alive, his second was that he still had his right leg at all. Injuries so grievous he could not brush his teeth for weeks 'When your knee dislocates, and all the ligaments break, there's a high possibility of the nerve or the main blood vessel also being injured,' Pardiwala explains. 'If the blood vessel gets injured, you typically have about four to six hours to restore the blood supply. Otherwise, there's a risk of losing your limb. The fact that his blood vessel wasn't injured despite having a severe high-velocity knee dislocation was extremely lucky.' When he met Pardiwala in Mumbai, Pant's first question was: 'Am I ever going to be able to play again?' His mother's first question to Pardiwala was simply: 'Is he ever going to be able to walk again?' ' We had a lengthy discussion about the fact that these are grievous injuries – we would need to reconstruct the entire knee,' Pardiwala recalls. 'Once we reconstruct the entire knee, we're going to have to then work through a whole process of letting it heal, letting it recover, then get back the basic functions – the range, the strength and the stability.' On January 6, 2023, two days after he arrived in Mumbai, Pant was put under general anaesthetic. Over the next four hours, Pardiwala performed surgery on his right knee, reconstructing three ligaments and repairing tendons and meniscus. For several weeks after the surgery, Pant's movement in his upper body – the area which had been far less affected than his legs – remained so debilitated that he could not brush his teeth without assistance. 'He lost a lot of skin, and so he couldn't really move his hands. They were completely swollen. He couldn't really move either of his hands initially.' It was weeks until Pant could even grip a glass safely to drink water without assistance. For four months after the accident, Pant could only walk with crutches. 'Typically, when we reconstruct these patients they are happy just to get back to normal life,' Pardiwala explains. 'If they can walk and do some minimal amount of recreational sports, they're happy.' But Pant's sights were altogether higher. Pardiwala 'really didn't know' whether Pant could play for India again. 'I said: 'We can certainly make sure that he walks again. I'm going to try my best to make sure that we can get him back to playing again.' 'We didn't really want to offer him too much initially, but we did want to give him hope. So I said: 'We'll break it down into steps.' Step one, of course, has to be the surgery. 'When we discussed it just after the surgery, the way I told him is the fact you're alive, the fact that your limbs survived – that's two miracles down. If we get you back to competitive cricket, that's going to be a third miracle. Let's just hope for everything, and then take it a step at a time. 'His question then was: 'OK, assuming that we do manage to get there, how long is it going to be?' I said: 'Probably looking at 18 months to get back to competitive cricket.'' After surgery, Pant remained in hospital for another 24 days until he was discharged. He remained in Mumbai for a further three weeks, staying in a hotel near the hospital. Then, Pant moved into accommodation by the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, by the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. This would remain his home for most of 2023. Pant returned to the Academy gym virtually every day, doing two sessions with physiotherapists or strength and conditioning coaches. Initially, these sessions were two hours each; within weeks, at Pant's request, they extended to 3½ hours each. The regime was a combination of strenuous exercise in the gym and long sessions of aqua therapy in the swimming pool. The programme had three phases: restoring range of movement; strengthening muscles; and finally regaining balance and agility. 'His whole aim was 'Get me back to normalcy as fast as possible',' Pardiwala remembers. 'And we were trying to make sure that we were doing just the optimum, not too little, but not too much. 'His recovery was much faster than we had anticipated. He was like: 'Nothing is too much.' He pushed harder than normal people.' Pant defied prognosis by four months From the very first discussions that he had with Pardiwala in Mumbai, Pant made it clear that he intended not only to return to elite cricket, but also to regain his place behind the stumps. This aim made his recovery programme more onerous. 'As a wicketkeeper, you have to squat hundreds of times a day,' Pardiwala explains. 'So we needed to get that capability.' Pardiwala recalls a conversation between Ricky Ponting, who was then his head coach at Delhi Capitals, and Pant. Ponting suggested that Pant initially return as a specialist batsman alone. 'Rishabh turned around and said: 'No, there's no way that I'm getting back to elite-level cricket as just a batsman. I want to enjoy my keeping and so I'm not going to get back just as a batsman, I will get back when I can bat and when I can keep wicket too.'' Pardiwala had originally told Pant that the best scenario was to make a full return within 18 months. Yet he made his return in a warm-up within 14 months of the crash. In March 2024, 14 months and three weeks after the accident, Pant returned to professional cricket, in the Indian Premier League. Pant got an emotional standing ovation as he walked out to bat for the first time. Unassumingly, he regained his form from before the crash, averaging 40.5 in the 2024 IPL season and keeping wicket in every match, too. 'He was diving around like crazy,' Pardiwala recalls. When he made his Test return, against Bangladesh, Pant marked his comeback with a century. WELCOME BACK TO RED BALL CRICKET AFTER 21 LONG MONTHS, RISHABH PANT...!!! - A swashbuckling 34 ball fifty by Pant. — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 7, 2024 While Pant, now 27, is as ebullient on the field as before his crash, he is a subtly different person off the field now. 'He recognises the fact that he was extremely lucky to be alive,' Pardiwala says. 'He's so motivated as a cricketer. 'If you knew the Rishabh before this happened, he's a much more mature human being. He's very philosophical now. He appreciates life and everything that goes around it. That typically happens to anyone who's faced death in the face. Someone who's had a near-death experience often gets life into perspective.' Pant's enforced break could ultimately mean that he plays more for India. Shane Warne's year-long absence from international cricket, for very different reasons – he was banned for a year for taking a banned diuretic – lengthened his own career. 'I'm sure he's going to be fitter now because he's realising the importance of it. A lot of athletes become much better after a big surgery than ever before. 'The difference is fitness levels. They were never exposed to those kinds of high levels of fitness and rehabilitation; even if they were exposed to it, they didn't understand the importance of it. 'He always worked at his fitness, I'm sure, but I think he worked more at his skills initially, and probably a little less at the fitness part of it. But now he realises the importance of fitness. So he's working out and making sure that all aspects of his body are strengthened enough. I think that gives him then the confidence to do what he does on the field.' So much confidence, indeed, that Pant celebrated the first of his twin centuries at Headingley with a hand spring: the same celebration that he used to mark a century in the IPL last month. The pyrotechnics reflect one of Pant's childhood loves. Rishabh Pant reaching 100 in the Rishabh Pant way 🔥6️⃣ "This fella is BOX OFFICE." 🍿 — Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 21, 2025 'Rishabh trained as a gymnast – and so although he looks large, he is quite agile, and he does have a lot of flexibility,' says Pardiwala. 'And that's why he's been doing those somersaults of late. 'It's a well-practised and perfected move – unnecessary though!' But not to a man with Pant's sense of theatre.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Rishabh Pant is challenging Adam Gilchrist as best keeper-batsman in history
'I can middle the ball playing with a straight bat as well.' So Rishabh Pant implored himself on the fourth morning at Headingley, with his words caught on the stump mic. And with good reason. Pant had just played a slog sweep off an 87mph delivery from Brydon Carse; he looked to the sky in despair, but the wind carried the ball between the slips and fine leg. In his first 23 deliveries alone, Pant also charged down the wicket and edged Chris Woakes over second slip and backed away to the leg side to make room. Most recklessly of all, Pant fell away to the off side as he tried to ramp Carse over his shoulder, needing an inside edge to save him from being dismissed lbw. Pant's approach resembled a professional blackjack player who was now constantly hitting on 18. Perhaps the greatest wonder of Pant's innings at Headingley was simply that he was there at all. In December 2022, while driving from Delhi to his hometown of Roorkee, Pant lost control of his car on the Delhi-Dehradun highway. His car skidded 200 metres before crashing into a divider and catching fire. While the car burned, Pant broke open a window to escape. He was hospitalised with major injuries to his head, back and feet and was considered lucky to survive. The scars on his legs and face remain. How fortunate Test cricket was that Pant not only returned to the game, but has relocated his best form too. It would be easy to say that the impudent spirit, which led Pant to charge down the wicket against pace second ball in both the first and second innings, spoke of a man liberated by suffering a near-death experience. Except that Pant batted with a similar anarchic spirit long before he got into his Mercedes SUV three years ago. For all the temptation to berate Pant's judgment, there is logic to his approach. Essentially, Pant has little faith in his defence at the start of his innings. Rather than allowing himself to poke uncertainly at the ball and still risk getting out, he prefers to accept the dangers of attacking, but knowing that this can bring a flurry of early boundaries. Such early adventure also encourages teams to reposition fielders from close-in to the ropes. On both 31 and 45, Pant edged Josh Tongue to the slips, into a gap that would not have vacant for less audacious batsmen. So there is a rationale to Pant's essential approach, though his self-admonishing on the fourth morning at Headingley showed that his initial aggression was too extreme. The wild strand to the start of Pant's innings obscured that he is among the most extraordinary Test batsmen – let alone keeper-batsmen – of this age. If his more restrained approach after the early jitters never exuded the clinical calm of KL Rahul, that is not the point of Pant. He continued to use his feet against seamers, nullifying lateral movement while crashing Tongue through the covers. Two sixes in three balls launched over long-on off Shoaib Bashir showed Pant's power. There was also ample evidence of his easily-overlooked finesse. When he was on 91, Ben Stokes packed the off side. With finesse and force, Pant still bisected the two cover fielders. At Headingley, the presumption was that Pant would seek to reach his century with a six, just as he had in the first innings. But, within a single blow of reaching twin centuries, Pant surprised the crowd almost as much as in the morning: he slowed down. As he repeatedly left deliveries from Bashir alone, and defended forward with ostentatious care, Pant exuded the air of a man playing at being responsible, like a reformed naughty schoolboy on his first day as a prefect. Twenty-one balls after reaching 95, Pant was still on 99. Then, with a cut off Bashir for one, Pant had his moment of history. This time, there was no somersault. Just a beaming smile and a glance to the heavens. Rishabh Pant becomes the first Indian batter to score centuries in both innings of a Test against England! 👏🇮🇳 — Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 23, 2025 In 2,586 Tests, just one man – Zimbabwe's Andy Flower – had ever scored twin centuries in a match while also keeping wicket. Now, Pant is the second member of this club. And he is rapidly compiling a record fit to compare to any wicketkeeper in Test history. Had he converted all his 90s into centuries, Pant would have a staggering 15 centuries in 44 Tests. But his eight hundreds include four in just 10 Tests in England; Rahul Dravid is the only Indian to score more here. For all the scrutiny about Pant's early method against pace bowling, he is the only wicketkeeper in history to score centuries away in Australia, England and South Africa. The upshot is that Pant is swiftly mounting a formidable case to challenge Adam Gilchrist for the tag of greatest keeper-batsman of all time. While Pant averages three runs fewer than Gilchrist – 44.4, compared to 47.6 – he has done so in a far worse era for batsmen worldwide. Pant's feats are further elevated by his position in the order: number five, two places higher than Gilchrist normally batted. In 19 Tests at number five, Pant now averages 59.7 while scoring at a strike rate of 82. If the notion of responsibility bringing the best out of him was not backed up by Pant's frenzied start, batting at five gives him full scope to shape an innings. Pant has achieved all this while the apparent sense of imminent peril in his batting remains. To change this would be to change the essence of Pant. Even when he plays with a straight bat, he is among the most intoxicating sights that Test cricket has ever seen.
Indian Express
21-06-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Punjab launches science-driven initiative to study, conserve water resources
In a major development aimed at addressing the escalating water crisis, the Punjab State Farmers' & Farm Workers' Commission (PSFFWC) has launched a science-driven initiative to study and conserve water resources in the state. This comes after a comprehensive report commissioned from the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH), Roorkee, was presented to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and a six-member legislative committee — formed under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann — in 2021. Acknowledging the significance of the report, the committee has now tasked the PSFFWC to expand the study to micro-level, employing advanced techniques like carbon dating, isotope technologies, and seepage pattern analysis. To galvanise expert insights, the PSFFWC also hosted two back-to-back workshops — first, featuring a team from the University of California, USA, led by Sharron Elizabeth Benes and Dr G S Brar; and the second involving water experts from the Punjab Agricultural University, the Panjab University, and the Department of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare. On Friday, PSFFWC chairman Professor Sukhpal Singh convened a high-level meeting, which was attended by eminent scientists including IIT Ropar's Pushpendra Pal Singh (Dean) and Sarbjot Kaur (Radioactive Tools Expert), IIT Mandi's Harshad Kulkarni and Ranjeet K Jha, NIH Roorkee Scientist-E Gopal Krishan, and Horticulture Department's former director Dr Gurkanwal Singh. The session, coordinated by PSFFWC's administrative officer-cum-secretary Ranjodh Singh Bains, focused on a 15-point agenda, addressing immediate and long-term water management challenges. Key recommendations included advanced isotopic studies and carbon dating to track groundwater depletion, heliborne surveys to identify paleo-channels for aquifer recharge, feasibility studies for a 5-billion cubic metres (BCM) reservoir on Ujh river, scientific aquifer characterisation to establish sustainable extraction limits, use of salt-tolerant and heavy metal-absorbing crops including bamboo species, revival of traditional water bodies and wells for recharge, and flood-resilient agricultural strategies. 'These insights would underpin a state-wide Water Conservation Mission involving top research institutions,' Bains said. The participating institutions — IIT Ropar, IIT Mandi, and NIH Roorkee — gave in-principle approval for collaboration, while a consortium memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed soon, with the PSFFWC to operationalise a comprehensive state-level project focused on groundwater sustainability and pollution prevention. Expressing confidence in the consortium's potential, PSFFWC chairman Sukhpal Singh said: 'This collaboration represents a turning point. With the collective expertise of our scientists and the commission's policy platform, we are poised to deliver transformative solutions to Punjab's water challenges. This initiative is expected to safeguard Punjab's agricultural future, and elevate its stand on the global stage as a model for sustainable water management.'
India Today
06-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
The making of Chenab rail bridge captured in satellite images
The satellite images of the newly inaugurated Chenab Rail Bridge, the world's highest railway arch bridge, provide a visual journey through the construction of this engineering marvel over nearly a 2017, early satellite imagery captured auxiliary structures on the two mountain peaks flanking the Chenab River in Dharot, highlighting the initial stages of the bridge's construction. By 2022, images showed the steel arch—spanning 1,315 metres—almost complete, with just a small segment left to be joined. The latest image from February 2025 reveals the bridge in its final form: a fully completed structure that used 25,000 tonnes of metal—three times the amount used in the Eiffel Tower. advertisementThe Chenab Bridge is a key component of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project and now seamlessly connects the Kashmir Valley to the rest of India via rail. Its construction in the young and geologically unstable Himalayan range posed numerous challenges. Located in a high seismic zone, the site required Indian Railways to undertake extensive geological and structural studies. The design was modified multiple times to endure simulated wind speeds of up to 266 km/ Roorkee conducted earthquake response modelling, ensuring the bridge could withstand earthquakes as strong as the 2001 Gujarat quake, which measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. Among the toughest hurdles was simply reaching the remote site to deliver heavy construction equipment and materials. Built by Afcons Infrastructure, a part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, the bridge also meets high security standards. It was engineered to remain standing even if one of its 14 pillars collapses. 'The bridge can withstand a powerful explosion of up to 40 kg of TNT,' Afcons claims, adding that train services would continue—albeit at reduced speeds—even if the structure suffers damage or loses a Watch IN THIS STORY#Jammu and Kashmir
Time of India
05-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
BEVs can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 38% in India: study
A recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reveals that Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) can potentially reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions up to 38 per cent compared to Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) in India. The joint study focused on passenger cars in India and compared the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of BEVs, ICE vehicles, and HEVs. Three key factors affecting LCA outcomes of BEVs The research identifies three key factors influencing the lifecycle assessment (LCA) outcomes of BEVs. These are grid carbon intensity, test-cycle energy consumption, and real-world energy consumption adjustment factor. Grid carbon intensity refers to the emissions generated from the electricity used to power BEVs. Test-cycle energy consumption represents lab-based estimates of fuel and electricity use. The real-world energy consumption adjustment factor accounts for the differences between laboratory testing and actual driving conditions. The research emphasises the crucial role of India's power grid composition in the overall emissions reduction potential of BEVs. Variations in the grid mix and real-world driving conditions can lead to significant fluctuations in lifecycle emissions. Why adopt BEVs? Accurate modeling and analysis are crucial for capturing the true advantages of BEVs in terms of emissions reduction. The study's findings highlight the urgency of adopting BEVs as a critical step towards achieving broader climate and sustainability goals. The study warns against delaying BEV adoption in anticipation of a cleaner grid. It underscores that ICE vehicles purchased today will remain on the road for many years, contributing to cumulative emissions. The report stresses the importance of addressing transport-related emissions to complement efforts in restoring ecosystems and mitigating climate change impacts.
