Five days after he underwent surgery for a ligament tear on his right knee, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant’s rehabilitation process started on Tuesday (January 10) at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Mumbai.
According to BCCI officials privy to the development, Pant’s nature of injuries is likely to keep him out of action for a minimum period of six months and he will stay in the hospital for at least a week.
“With the mobilisation, the doctors are beginning his rehabilitation process. He will start walking with a walker and then independently. He will need an extensive rehabilitation programme,” the official said, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
On December 30, Rishabh’s car collided with a divider on the Delhi-Dehradun expressway and caught fire, forcing him to break the car window and get out of the vehicle.
Initially, he was treated at the Max Hospital in Dehradun for multiple injuries. However, the southpaw was shifted to Mumbai for the treatment of his right knee, which took a major impact in the near-fatal accident.
“As a wicketkeeper, both the ligament tears are of concern. The ACL crosses in the middle of the knee and connects the thigh bone to the shinbone. It helps stabilise the knee joint. Both the tears were the result of a massive impact injury. He will take time to recover and it will depend on his ability to bear pain and time taken for complete mobility,” the official further said.
Rishabh Pant is being treated under the supervision of renowned BCCI-empanelled sports orthopaedic Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, who operated on him last week.
“Won't be able to comment anything on Pant’s case as nothing is revealed so far (to us),” said Vaibhav Daga, head-sports science and rehabilitation, consultant sports medicine at the hospital.
When asked to explain the general rehabilitation procedure they follow for ACL and MCL patients, Daga said: “From the recent literature, usually if it’s an ACL it will take between 6 to 9 months, (that) is what we look at for their return to sport. If it is an MCL it will take between 3 to 4 months, depending on the severity also and the procedure of surgery as it will differ from surgeon to surgeon, as they know best about the operated knee.”
(Hindustan Times Inputs)
