Rishabh Pant Nominated For Special Award Alongside MotoGP Racer Marc Márquez

India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, on March 3 (Monday), was nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award 2025 in the ‘Comeback of the Year’ category. 

In the aftermath of the Dhaka Test against Bangladesh, Pant suffered a horrific, life-threatening car crash on December 30, 2022, that put him out of action from all cricket till the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

However, the 27-year-old has since made an impressive comeback to professional cricket, making heads turn in IPL 2024 — 446 runs @ 40.55 and 155.40 — before earning his place back in all three formats of the game. 

Pant was part of India’s starting XI in all games of the successful T20 World Cup 2024 campaign in the United States and the Caribbean. The left-handed batter is currently with the Indian team in Dubai for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

“I have always believed that the biggest virtue of life is to be grateful for everything God has blessed you with. Over the course of my life, I have focused on being positive and happy in every situation, trusting the power of self-belief and resilience to deal with every challenge,” said Pant.

“When I survived the near-fatal car crash, I realised that I have been fortunate to be a blessed soul, which inspired me to work extremely hard to undo everything and return to the pitch as a better version of myself with greater motivation.

“I knew that my return to normal life was only half the circle of my comeback and I needed to complete the circle by being committed towards my dream of playing for India again. In 2024, I returned to play for the Indian Test team 629 days after the car crash, the year where we also won the ICC T20 World Cup.”

Gymnast Rebeca Andrade, ski racer Lara Gut-Behrami, swimmers Ariarne Titmushave and Caeleb Dressel, and MotoGP legend Marc Márquez have also been nominated in the same category.

The winners will be revealed on April 21, 2025.