NEW DELHI, Nov 25, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Two years after Rishabh Pant feared his
cricket career was over in a serious car crash, the wicketkeeper has become
the most expensive player in Indian Premier League history.

The 27-year-old left-hander recovered from his injuries to make a stunning
return to elite cricket and was part of the India team that won the T20 World
Cup in June.

On Sunday Lucknow Super Giants paid 270 million rupees -- $3.2 million -- at
auction for his services in the upcoming season of the lucrative IPL.

That broke the 2023 record of 247.5 million rupees Kolkata shelled out for
Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc.

Lucknow coach Justin Langer called Pant a "character that can lift a team",
the Times of India reported.

Lucknow's mentor, veteran Indian bowler Zaheer Khan, said he had spotted
Pant's "spark" when he was a 19-year-old player in Delhi.

"(The) way he has evolved as a cricketer is remarkable," he told the
newspaper.

In December 2022, Pant suffered multiple injuries after his Mercedes crashed
near New Delhi.

His vehicle flipped and caught fire, and Pant suffered a damaged ligament in
his right knee and a hurt wrist and ankle.

But Pant battled back through an intensive rehabilitation programme, and led
Delhi Capitals in the IPL this year with his no-fear attacking batting.

Pant himself called his return "nothing short of a miracle".

- 'Lots of struggles' -

Pant grew up in the city of Roorkee in the northern state of Uttarakhand,
sharing a one-room home with his sister and parents.

His cricket-mad businessman father told him to pursue his dream of playing
for his country.

"He told me he will support me -- go and have fun playing," he recalled in an
interview with the Indian Express newspaper.

"What more could I have asked for as a boy?"

As a teenager Pant would spend weekends travelling with his mother, a
teacher, on a night bus to the capital New Delhi -- six hours each way -- for
cricket coaching.

"There were lots of such struggles in those days," he told the Indian
Express, describing how he would catch some sleep at a Sikh temple before
playing.

Pant is a mainstay of the India team, scoring his first Test century in his
third match against England in 2018.

In September, Pant announced his return to Tests in style with an attacking
century against Bangladesh in Chennai, smashing bowlers to every part of the
ground and receiving a standing ovation.

"Rishabh's history in the IPL and in the sport of cricket is unparallelled in
terms of his skill," Lucknow owner Shashwat Goenka said of the record buy.

On Monday, Lucknow posted a picture of Pant leaping to catch a ball during
the first Test against Australia in Perth -- joking in its comment "when did
Spider-Man start to fly?".

For selectors Pant epitomises the determination to succeed against the odds.

"This game will test your limits, knock you down, lift you up, and throw you
back again," he posted on social media earlier this year.

"But those who love it rise stronger every time."