Prayers for Pant

Rishabh Pant being involved in a high-speed Mercedes car crash and escaping from the flames of death brings forth the glorious uncertainties of life. Here was the young man, speeding to Roorkee to meet his mom as a surprise for the New Year. Instead, he lost control at the wheels, hit a barrier, spun, rolled and was lucky to escape.

Good men from the Haryana Roadways, who were on duty near the accident spot, rushed him to the Max hospital in Dehradun. It was a swift response from mankind. The best part is that the driver and the conductor did not even know he was the superstar of Indian cricket, someone who bats with dangerous looking shots and collars rivals’ bowling.

Luck, fate, unfortunate — we have heard all these words relating to accidents. Images of Pant suffering injuries on his face, back, cuts and bruises plus ligament tear in his knees, and possibly the right side of his shoulder were scary to look at. For those who feel photos should not have been put out on media and social media, that is a conservative view.

These days, nothing is hidden. If an accident image shocks you, then it’s because of what could have happened, for the worse. Pant was blessed that he escaped minus severe burns and nothing life-threatening. A worst-case scenario could have been suffering head injuries or getting concussed. Nothing like that happened, and the Delhi Capitals captain, who will miss this IPL season, is now in safe hands at the Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai. He was airlifted from Dehradun, which became a spectacle in itself.

Again, those cursing media and social media for invading privacy need to understand, celebrities will face this kind of intrusion. At a time when horrible pictures of accidents in the Capital went viral in New Delhi during New Year, images of Pant being shifted to an air ambulance was a must for fans. Billions want him safe and sound, healthy. They are assured he is fine and will be back in action sooner than later.

‘When’ is the big question, though 2023 seems like a closed chapter for him. For those who talk of Pant’s season being “finished” in 2023, it is not the end of the world. Everyone related and unrelated to cricket and sport at large has reached out to Pant and his family, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It goes to show how much of a hero Pant is and how much he is loved.

They say, prayers can move mountains. Pant needs love, adulation and more to overcome this crisis. Several athletes and fitness experts have already said he will bounce back sooner. He is in the hands of the best team of doctors with Dinshaw Pardiwala, a well-known arthroscopy expert, in command. Treatment, rest and rehab will be long, no denying it. As Pant has been a fit cricketer and full of life and humour, he will be able to recover faster than what most are speculating about.

Then again, he is just 25. Even if he is going to take 18 months to regain full fitness, not all is lost. As a Test wicket-keeper with pedigree and high-scoring skills bordering on audacity, Pant is a treasure. Nothing is going to ruin his cricket so easily. One has to look at the brighter side of things. Looking at a calamity in every opportunity is not the need of the hour.

It was heartening to see videos of members of Team India sending messages to Rishabh Pant from the BCCI’s Twitter handle. Led by coach Rahul Dravid, there were other faces and voices as well, including the future white-ball captain of India, Hardik Pandya. Pandya has already been named deputy to Rohit Sharma in the ODIs and is being tipped as the next T20 captain of India. Pandya’s message to Pant was beautiful. For their part, the BCCI bosses, Roger Binny and Jay Shah, have also come out with emphatic messages for Pant. His treatment costs will be covered by the BCCI and they will monitor it in toto.

To be sure, it was interesting to see just a few days after Pant’s accident that the BCCI top brass plus captain and skipper — Dravid and Rohit Sharma — ideated over a fitness meeting. The BCCI has come up with a short list of 20 players who will form the core team for the ICC ODI World Cup, to be held in India later this year. What is important, and relevant, is that the BCC has now admitted that fitness of players was below par.

For those who watch cricket on the television, every movement of the players is observed minutely. When someone misses a catch or is unable to show athletic skills in fielding and throwing the ball, or is unable to dive and stop the ball, it comes under the scanner. What also is now getting highlighted is how players never skipped the Indian Premier League (IPL) but took “breaks” from Team India duty, across formats. Even Rohit Sharma and the man stripped of vice captaincy, KL Rahul, are guilty of this.

Whoever came up with a plan to monitor the fitness of the Indian cricketers deserves kudos. From implementing the Yo-Yo scale to using Dexa scan, a lot is going to happen. The BCCI will have a full database on the players, their health, fitness, medical parameters and so on. Some people have jumped on to the Dexa scan method, big doctors included, saying that the Dexa scan is only for bone density and so on. No, there are more encompassing tests involved, which will also look at blood reports. It will Include an evaluation of body fat and muscle mass. Sounds like jargon, doesn’t it? No, all this is part of fitness indicators used to check how fit a player is. It has been used in many other sports; it is just that the BCCI may have woken up late.

The emphasis on fitness, injury management, workload management and so on are interlinked. Indian cricket saw a disaster taking place when fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out following a back stress injury last year in the only Test against England in Birmingham in July. He was rushed into a comeback, which was foolish. Bumrah went out of the World Cup squad for the World T20 in Australia. He is a key for India in the ODI World Cup. The BCCI big bosses will do well to manage his workload judiciously.

Nobody wants to see Bumrah burning himself out in the IPL, and not be in peak shape for the India matches. That the BCCI has woken up to club cricket versus Team India cricket has happened late in the day. However, if 2023 be a year of change and surprises, no harm that the BCCI now seems serious about fitness and how players need to be rotated.

Picking players on past performances and overlooking injuries is unacceptable. Perhaps, closer to the World Cup, one can get a fair idea which players deserve to be in the final squad. Indian cricket was alien to such planning. One hopes, the men in control will do an honest job of it.

One wonders how “sacked” chairman of the BCCI selection committee, Chetan Sharma, is back in favour. He has been picking squads and been named again as chief selector. Was his sacking after the T20 World Cup a rash decision or have they (BCCI) not found the right “yes” men. After all, Venkatesh Prasad not making the cut as a selector is baffling. If the BCCI wants puppets and stooges as selectors, it’s bizarre.

If players have to be picked on fitness, form, good health — physical and mental — selectors cannot be a “bunch of jokers” — a phrase used by Mohinder (Jimmy) Amarnath many years ago. Selectors have to be unbiased and independent. If their term was over and they have been rehired, it means they did a great job.

Was that the case in Australia, where India flopped in the T20 World Cup a few months ago? Will the high priests in the BCCI and Chetan Sharma please answer? Fans have still not forgiven you for the flop show, lousy captaincy of Rohit Sharma and Dravid coming across as a very average coach. Those

who were baying for Ravi Shastri’s blood have had a change of heart as well!