Rishabh Pant said was trying to avoid a pothole, says Delhi cricket official
The India wicket-keeper is undergoing treatment in a Dehradun hospital, having escaped with injuries after the car he was driving crashed and burst into flames near Roorkee early on Friday.
Uttarakhand Police on Saturday said that India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant who met with an accident in Haridwar early on Friday wasn’t speeding and was not under the influence. CCTV footage of the incident shows the car driven by the cricketer hit the road divider near his hometown Roorkee, seemingly at high speed.
Haridwar senior superintendent of police, Haridwar Ajai Singh said on Saturday: “We’ve checked eight to 10 speed cameras from the Uttar Pradesh border to the accident spot in Narsan; the cricketer’s car didn’t cross the speed limit, which is 80 km per hour on that national highway. In the CCTV footage, the car appears to be at a high speed because it was tossed in the air after hitting the divider. Our technical team also inspected the accident site. We didn’t find anything that suggests overspeeding by the cricketer.”
The SSP added: “If he would have been drunk, how could he drive 200 km from Delhi and not meet with any accident for such a long distance? The doctor who gave him first aid at the Roorkee hospital also stated he was completely normal. That’s why he was able to successfully pull himself out of the car. Anybody drunk would not have been able to get out of the car.”
Uttarakhand director general of police Ashok Kumar said the cricketer dozed off at the wheel, causing the accident. A senior police official who didn’t wish to be named, said, “In the CCTV footage, the car is seemingly hitting the road divider at a high speed. Since he didn’t hit anybody, no action would be taken.”
Pant, currently under treatment in a Dehradun hospital, told the police he dozed off at the wheel and lost control of the car before it hit a divider, toppled and burst into flames, Kumar said.
The 25-year-old, who suffered injuries on his forehead and right knee and abrasions on the back, was rescued by the driver and conductor of a Haryana Roadways bus before being rushed in an ambulance to Saksham Hospital in Roorkee and later to Max Hospital in Dehradun.
In an early statement to the police, Pant said he didn’t remember how it happened, SP (rural), Haridwar, Swapn Kishore Singh said. Officials said forensic experts, and NHAI (highway authority) and transport department officials also examined the gutted car at the Narsan police checkpost.
Pant continues to be treated at Max Dehradun and is stable, a official said on Saturday.
Delhi and District Cricket Association director, Shyam Sharma, met Pant at the hospital on Saturday.
He told reporters: “He is stable and recovering well. BCCI doctors are in touch with doctors at this hospital. BCCI would take a call on whether he has to be shifted anywhere for the best treatment. Pant told me he tried to avoid a pothole when the accident occurred.”
On Friday, BCCI had issued a statement on Pant's injuries.
“Rishabh has two cuts on his forehead, a ligament tear in his right knee and has also hurt his right wrist, ankle, toe and has suffered abrasion injuries on his back. Rishabh’s condition remains stable, and he has now been shifted to Max Hospital, Dehradun, where he will undergo MRI scans to ascertain the extent of his injuries and formulate his further course of treatment,” it said.
