Pant Nominated for Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award After Inspiring Return to Cricket

Rishabh Pant's unforgettable comeback from a life-threatening car crash to Test glory for India has been recognised with a nomination for the prestigious Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award, a release stated.

- AGENCIES

Pant will represent both India and the sport of cricket as the world's biggest sports awards celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Nominees for the 2025 Laureus World Sports Awards are decided after a vote by the world's sports media.

The ceremony will take place in Madrid, Spain, on April 21 and be a celebration of the greatest athletic achievements of 2024 and the best sporting moments from the 25 years since the first Laureus World Sports Awards, in 2000.

"Rishabh Pant's story has more drama than any sports movie script: a national hero and a sporting icon who almost lost everything in an accident; a long and testing road to recovery; and finally a heroic comeback on the biggest stage, cheered on by millions of Indian cricket fans," the release stated.

"I felt my time in this world was up," said Pant about the accident in December 2020 on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, in which he had to be pulled from his vehicle before it burst into flames. Pant was fortunate not to lose a leg and suffered multiple critical injuries before beginning a 629-day journey back to Test cricket. The movie script ended in the perfect finale - on his comeback Test, he scored a match-winning century against Bangladesh, equalling MS Dhoni's record for the most Test hundreds by an Indian wicketkeeper.