Cricketer Rishabh Pant suffers injuries in car accident
New Delhi/Dehradun (PTI): India's star cricketer Rishabh Pant suffered multiple injuries when his car collided with a road divider on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, early on Friday.
The 25-year-old, who was going to his home in Roorkee, was taken to a local hospital. He suffered injuries on his head, back and feet but is in a stable condition.
"Pant met with an accident in Manglaur in Haridwar district when his car hit a divider at 5.30 am on Friday," Haridwar SSP Ajai Singh said.
"He was rushed to Saksham hospital in nearby Rookee from where he was referred later to Max Hospital, Dehradun," he added.
The accident happened at Mohammadpur Jat in Manglaur.
Dr. Sushil Nagar, who treated Pant in emergency, said the cricketer didn't suffer any fracture but there was a ligament injury on his knee which would require further investigations.
"When he was brought to our hospital, he was fully conscious and I spoke to him. He wanted to surprise his mother and was going back home," Dr Nagar told PTI.
"He had two lacerations (blunt trauma) on his head but I didn't put stitches. I have recommended him to Max Hospital where a plastic surgeon might see him.
"However reports of X Rays conducted at our hospital suggest that there are no bone injuries. Yes, there is a ligament tear on his right knee. How serious it is can only be detected after further investigation and detailed MRI done."
Ligament injuries have various grades and it can take 2 to 6 months to regain complete fitness.
Dr Nagar said the big bruises on his back, pictures of which have gone viral on social media, are not burn injuries.
"The injuries happened because he jumped out of car by breaking the window of his car as soon as it caught fire. As he landed on the side of the road on his rear, the skin was peeled off. But those are not burn injuries and not very serious."
Dr Dishant Yagnik, medical superintendent at Max Hospital, Dehradun said Pant is being evaluated by a team of orthopaedists and plastic surgeons in the emergency ward.
"A detailed bulletin on his condition will be available in around an hour after the evaluation is complete," he said.
Pant played a big role in India's two-Test series win against Bangladesh. He had scored a match-winning knock of 93 in the second Test in Mirpur.
"We are all concerned but thankfully he is stable. We at DDCA are keeping a tab and wish him a speedy recovery," DDCA secretary Siddharth Sahib Singh said in a statement.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said his government will bear the entire expense of Pant's treatment.
Dhami spoke to officials to get an update on the cricketer's condition and asked them to make all arrangements for his treatment.
Arrangement for an air ambulance should also be made if required, he said.
However, Pant is a centrally contracted player and the BCCI will take full care of all his medical expenses.
"Praying for Rishabh Pant. Thankfully he is out of danger. Wishing @RishabhPant17 a very speedy recovery. Get well soon Champ," NCA chief VVS Laxman wrote on his twitter handle.
Pant was left out of the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka beginning on January 3 as he was supposed to join the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru for strength and conditioning programme ahead of February's Border Gavaskar Trophy.
As of now, there is no clarity on his availability for the series against Australia.
Pant has scored 2,271 runs in 33 Tests so far with the help of five hundreds and 11 fifties. He has also represented the country in 30 ODIs and 66 T20Is.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
