As India vice captain Rishabh Pant slammed a six and then somersaulted after scoring the first of his two centuries against England in the Test match at Headingley, Leeds, thousands of miles away in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, a teenager leapt in celebration.
Nishu Kumar, 19, who was glued to his phone, isn’t just another Pant fan; his association with the wicketkeeper-batsman runs deeper. When Pant was involved in a near fatal car crash near Roorkee, Uttarakhand, in December 2022, it was Nishu and his friend Rajat Kumar who pulled the cricketer out of the car and took him to hospital.
Last Saturday, Nishu gathered his friends at his one-room home to watch Pant take on the English bowlers in their backyard. “And what a comeback it was with that somersault to celebrate the hundred. Rishabh bhaiya showed the world he is back!” Nishu tells The Indian Express.
The smiling and jumping Pant he saw on TV was different to the person he encountered that fateful night on the highway. Nishu was heading to work with Rajat in the nearby town of Libberheri when he saw a car catch fire after hitting the divider on the Delhi-Dehradun highway.
At that moment, Nishu and Rajat did not know who the person inside the car was. “In the ambulance, on the way to the hospital, he showed us his pictures on our phone and told us he is Rishabh Pant,” says an emotional Nishu, who has been out of work for a few months.
“At that moment, when we saw bhaiya after the accident, nobody, including us, thought he would play cricket again.”
Nishu said he and Rajat — who couldn’t be reached for a comment — were gifted scooters by Pant as a gesture of gratitude. They met Pant at the hospital where he was recovering, and this year the cricketer invited them for an IPL match in Lucknow.
“When Rishabh bhaiya invited us to Lucknow, it was the first time that I was watching him play in front of my eyes. Later, he also gave me a Lucknow Super Giants jersey and made sure there were no shortcomings in our stay at Lucknow,” says Nishu.
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“I also saw (Australia’s World Cup-winner) Mitchell Marsh at the team hotel but for me, Rishabh bhaiya is the superstar. When I told him that I don’t have a job, he assured me that he will see to it and do something.”
India’s Rishabh Pant reacts as he leaves the field after losing his wicket on day four of the first cricket test match between England and India at Headingley in Leeds, England, Monday, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
There are others, too, who vividly recall the night of the accident. Among them is Paramjit Singh Nain, a Haryana Roadways bus conductor stationed at the Panipat depot, who was on the Haridwar-Panipat route when he saw Pant’s car somersault over the road barrier and land “50-100 metres” from his bus.
Nain says he rushed to help, along with the bus driver Sushil Kumar. “When we rushed, we saw a man stuck halfway between the seat and the windshield. While Sushil called the police, I called the ambulance and after help arrived, we left for our destination,” says Nain, now nicknamed ‘Pant’ at the depot.
Driver Kumar, 32, says he narrates the ‘Pant story’ to his son to motivate him when the going gets tough.
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“My son is a judo player and I always tell him to have the mental strength like Pant,” says Sushil. “I don’t know anything about cricket. But if the whole world is talking about Pant, then it’s the biggest motivation for others to see what he has achieved after that fateful night.”
Sushil says it was their ‘farz’ (duty) to help Pant. “Before we reached the car, it was in flames. We collected his cash and other belongings safely so that we could hand them over to the police. Then we called an ambulance, police and emergency services,” he says, adding, “We are thankful to God that he was saved. When we hear that he is doing the country proud, it’s the biggest gift for all of us.”
Nain and Kumar were honoured by the then Haryana chief minister, Manohar Lal Khattar, and given commendation certificates along with a trophy during Republic Day celebrations in 2023. The duo, however, have not met Pant after the accident.
Among the first to rush to the hospital where Pant was taken, Umesh Kumar, the MLA from Uttarakhand’s Khanpur, says “mental strength” has always been the Indian vice captain’s strong suit.
A close associate of Pant’s family, the MLA says he spoke to Pant before the Leeds Test, asking him to ignore the trolls who criticised his performance in the Indian Premier League season.
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“Right from the day I have known Rishabh, he has been someone with great mental toughness and unfazed by any setbacks. So when we talked about his IPL form and also online trolls, he just told me, ‘Aap bhi chinta nahi karo. Main bhi nahi karta (You don’t worry. I don’t either)’,” said Umesh.
