Rishabh Pant undergoes successful knee ligament surgery in Mumbai; likely to miss World Cup

Rishabh Pant, the Indian wicket-keeper batsman, is said to have had successful knee surgery at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital. According to new reports, surgery was performed on Friday, and the cricketer is healing quickly under the care of the medical team. Pant was airlifted to Mumbai from Dehradun's Max Hospital, where he had been hospitalised after a tragic car accident on December 30.

“Rishabh Pant has successfully undergone a knee ligament surgery on Friday. He will under observation. Further course of action and rehabilitation will be advised by Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala and followed by the BCCI sports science and medical team,” BCCI source told PTI. 

Meanwhile, the BCCI issued a statement earlier this week claiming that the wicketkeeper will undergo surgery in Mumbai and that their medical team will follow the cricketer's recovery and rehabilitation.

"The Board will make every effort to aid and expedite the recovery process of Rishabh Pant and will provide him with all the support he needs during this period," read BCCI statement.

According to the specialists, Pant had a serious ligament injury and will need at least 8-9 months to recuperate and return to full fitness. This means that the left-handed batsman will not only miss the forthcoming IPL 2023, but he may also miss the Asia Cup and the 50-over World Cup.

“Every player’s body is different but looking at his (Rishabh Pant) report, our doctors say the ligament injury is like the one (Ravindra) Jadeja suffered. As per the reports we received from Dehradun, we were told that Pant would need surgery as early as possible. It looks like he will take more than six months to recover,” an official told The Indian Express.

Ravindra Jadeja, India's premier all-rounder, suffered a similar ligament tear last year, keeping him out for much of the season. Jadeja had to withdraw from the Asia Cup 2022 during the event and did not play in the T20 World Cup 2022 since he was recovering at the time.

Team India is currently engaged in a bilateral white-ball series against Sri Lanka and will then face New Zealand before hosting Australia in a four-match Test series. While the IPL 2023 season is set to begin in the last week of March.

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