Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala, the Mumbai-based orthopaedic surgeon who treated Rishabh Pant after his horrific accident in December 2022, feels his somersault celebrations are ‘perfected’ but ‘unnecessary’. Pant’s luxury car crashed into a divider while he was driving to his home in Roorkee in December 2022. He suffered multiple injuries and underwent ligament reconstruction surgery on his right knee. He was initially admitted to Dehradun and had to be airlifted to Mumbai, where Pardiwala oversaw his surgeries at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital in Andheri West The wicketkeeper-batter missed out on all cricket for over a year and did extensive rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy before finally making his comeback for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024. He scored two centuries against England in the recent Headingley Test — becoming the first Indian ‘keeper to do so — and celebrated the first one with a somersault, just like he did for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025. “Rishabh trained as a gymnast – and so although he looks large, he is quite agile, and he does have a lot of flexibility,” Pardiwala told The Telegraph. “And that’s why he’s been doing those somersaults of late. It’s a well-practised and perfected move – unnecessary though!,” he added. “He recognises the fact that he was extremely lucky to be alive. He’s so motivated as a cricketer. If you knew the Rishabh before this happened, he’s a much more mature human being. He’s very philosophical now. He appreciates life and everything that goes around it. That typically happens to anyone who’s faced death in the face. Someone who’s had a near-death experience often gets life into perspective.” “Rishabh Pant was extremely lucky to be alive – extremely lucky. To be in an accident like this, where the car actually overturns and blows up, the risk of death is extremely high,” Pardiwala said. The 27-year-old looked understandably off-color in IPL 2024 but showed marked improvement over the next few weeks. The twin centuries reinstated him in the greatest-of-all-time conversations for India Test wicketkeepers. India will hope he can maintain the consistency and that his performances come in winning causes.