Rishabh Pant’s rise from the near-fatal accident to once again wear colors for India has been acknowledged as the star wicketkeeper-batter was nominated for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award.
The ceremony is on April 21, 2024, and marks the celebration of sporting achievement and sporting moments from the 25 years since the first Laureus World Sports Awards.
The nominees for the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2025 are chosen through vote among the world’s media.
On learning of his nomination, Rishabh Pant said “I have always held the belief that the greatest virtue of life is to be grateful for everything God has blessed you with. Through my life, I have focused on being positive and ecstatic through all situations, and trusted the power of self-belief and resilience to face every challenge. Surviving a near-fatal car crash heightened my realization of how fortunate I am to be a blessed soul and pushed me to work extremely hard to put everything back and return to the pitch as a better version of myself, with greater motivation. I understood that my return to normal life was only half a circle of my comeback, and I needed to complete that circle with the commitment to fulfill my dream of playing for India again. After 629 days from the accident, I made a comeback for the Indian Test side in 2024, the year wherein we also brought home the ICC T20 World Cup”.
“My journey back to competitive cricket was extremely tough, and I felt a sense of satisfaction that came from summing up a long mental and physical struggle when the moment came. It felt intensely personal: a victory for faith and hard work. Being nominated for the Laureus World Comeback of the Year Award means so much to me, and it is a tribute to all those people who supported my comeback: my family, the BCCI, doctors, medical personnel, support staff, trainers, and fans. The Award is a beacon of hope and devotion, representing some of the grand stories in sports. So it is, indeed, an honor for me to get the nomination this year. I hope that my story and the story of others nominated for the award shall give the sports-loving and the world-at-large strength never to give up, to believe in themselves, and remain thankful and happy in life,” he added.
The Laureus World Sports Academy will cast the first ballots between the 69 sporting icons to find out who will eventually add their names to an elite list of those who are to receive the coveted Laureus Statuette.
