India’s star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant recently took to social media and shared a clip of him running on the treadmill. “No shortcuts, just pure hustle,” he wrote in the caption of the post. Almost 10 months ago Pant was involved in a tragic car accident while driving to his hometown Roorkee, Uttarakhand. The Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper suffered multiple injuries to his head, back and feet after miraculously surviving the horrific car accident. He had to undergo surgery later on.
While the road to recovery was arduous and filled with anxiety and self-doubt, one thing Pant never questioned was the diet he was put on by his nutritionist Shweta Shah. “I first met Rishabh around two years prior to his accident through my association with MS Dhoni. At that time, I was overseeing him dietary needs. However, things changed when I resumed working with him after the accident. He had absolutely no appetite and his energy levels were low. He couldn’t even walk for two minutes. And for an athlete that itself can be quite stressful. There were digestive and gastric issues too due to the heavy medication he was put on during his treatment. After a long discussion with him I realised that his vata (one of the three doshas in Ayurveda) was heavily imbalanced,” says nutritionist Shweta Shah founder of Eatfit24/7.
Khichdi to the rescue
Realising that Pant was suffering from a possible leaky gut syndrome aggravated by the heavy medication and pain killers Shah put Pant on a diet of khichdi for the two weeks. “Khichdi is a superfood that helps digestion and recovery. We avoided Basmati and instead made his khichdi with Kolam rice and yellow mung dal. No masoor and tuvar dal which aggravates leaky gut. We made sure that the khichdi was loaded with veggies especially bottle gourd and pumpkin. A simple tempering of ghee and cumin seeds was added,” says Shweta. A typical day for Pant would start with a breakfast of smoothie and fresh fruits followed by a lunch of khichdi. Jowar puffs made up for an evening snack and then it was khichdi again for dinner.
Though Pant was initially bored with the diet he stuck to it when his energy levels bounced back and appetite returned. Another thing that really helped the cricketer was gond katira ka paani which he consumed mid morning for a month. “The gond commonly used to make laddu generates heat in the body. But the katira variety of gond is cooling. An overdose of medication had aggravated the pith in his body. Gond Katira soaked overnight and diluted with water helps in bone recovery and fights inflammation, which is what Pant needed at that time,” says Shah who also made a special herbal mix for the cricketer. The powder made up of several herbs such as cumin, curry leaves and punarnava helped Pant with his digestive fire or jatharagni. According to Ayurvedic the role of jatharagni is the key in maintaining gut health. The powder is now Pant’s constant companion. Lack of sleep was a major concern for Pant. Shah tackled that with bay leaf water at night. Two bay leaves boiled in 100 ml of water, strained and had at night helped along with a low dose of magnesium, selenium and iron tablets. All through the recovery journey Shah stuck to basic Ayurveda principles of no virudh ahara (not mixing incompatible foods such as milk and fruits, no iced water, no raw salads, etc.) along with keeping away from mushrooms and brinjals that could aggravate his vata dosha.
Back to protein
After a fortnight of khichdi, Shah slowly introduced a variety of rotis and parathas using amaranth and buckwheat flour. Wheat was a complete no-no, though milk products were retained. “Rishabh loves chicken. And since I had to keep him vegetarian for a month we needed some source of protein. And luckily paneer suited him fine,” reveals Shah who put a complete ban on garam masala and red chili powder. Anti-inflammatory juices played a key role in the recovery. Pineapple and basil leaf juice, celery, ginger, mint and parsley juice, mint and coriander juice, amla, carrot, beet juice kept the 26-year-old full while also working on the gut lining.
Now that Pant has made significant progress in his rehabilitation and has commenced batting as well as keeping in the nets, Shah has introduced non-vegetarian foods as well as hot snacks to his diet. Sprouts and corn chaat, paneer tikka, sweet potato chaat, soya burger, chicken tikka, etc. are keeping Pant happy and energetic for his practise. Currently the cricketer is on a fat loss diet following a fitness programme designed for him which includes strength, flexibility and running. Besan chillas, eggs with toast or oats make up breakfast whereas nuts and seeds act as mid-morning snacks. Lunch is always rotis with a big bowl of vegetables, a steamed drumstick and a steamed carrot. Pant ends his day with rice and chicken curry or a steamed chicken paratha. “Rishabh is a complete desi boy. No continental or Thai food for him. He needs his roti, subzi, chicken every day, not zucchini or broccoli. Though, I sometimes add these things in a tikki or a pancake he protests after a few days. So I have to change it,” says Shah.
Pant is likely to make a return to the Indian cricket team with the England series in 2024. Till then the Indian jersey No. 17 will have to wait.
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