Pant is fine and smiling, no need to shift him to Delhi, says DDCA director

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is doing fine and smiling after being treated for the injuries he sustained in a horrific car crash on Friday, according to DDCA director Shyam Sharma. Sharma was also confident that there would be no need shift Pant from Dehradun, where he is currently hospitalized, to Delhi for further treatment.

"He's fine right now. Smiling as of now and he's recovering. It is good as our kid will recover quickly and I am confident of this currently. He is in the ICU presently," Sharma told IANS on Saturday after meeting Pant.

Pant suffered multiple injuries when his car hit a road divider on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, when he was driving to his hometown Roorkee from Delhi. Pant was taken out of a burning car and rushed to the hospital thanks to Haryana Road Transport Corporation bus driver Sushil and conductor Paramjeet in the early hours on Friday.

The 24-year old was admitted to Saksham Hospital Multispecialty and Trauma Centre before being taken to Max Hospital in Dehradun.

DDCA president Rohan Jaitley earlier said that if needed, Pant will be flown from Dehradun to Delhi or Mumbai for further treatment, but Sharma said that it is for the BCCI to decide.

"The future plan of the treatment will be decided by the BCCI. BCCI are the one authorised to decide this. I went out of courtesy as a family as Rohan Jaitley said me to go and meet him. Rishabh Pant is just like our kid and boosts his morale of him and see what the situation is," Sharma said.

"As of now, there is no need as it doesn't look like that. Whatever rest has to be done will be decided by the BCCI," he added.

Pant is unlikely to play India's upcoming Test series against Australia in February-March and the IPL 2023 in April-May, according to a report by Cricbuzz. His return to cricket can only be determined after the treatment on his knee ligament tear.

According to BCCI, Pant suffered two cuts on the forehead, a ligament tear in the right knee and injuries to right wrist, ankle, toe and several abrasions. The left hander last played in the second Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka last week where he scored a match-winning 93 in the first innings.