“The beginning phase was to get foundational strength in him, making his body understand what the movements are like.

“It’s completely reconstructed thing and once it’s reconstructed it takes a lot of mind and body connection. The neural system need to understand, the muscle, tendons have to function,” he added.

Although Pant left no stone unturned, ticking all the boxes, the 26-year found the rehab mundane.

“Rehab is very irritating, have to do same thing again and again. But you have to do it because you don’t have any other choice. It’s boring but the more you do the better you get,” said Pant.

But returning to the cricket field has made him love the sport more than he could imagine.

“I feel so happy when I go to the ground. The love of cricket has gone up, I used to love it more than anything before but still there is an increase.”

His treating doctor, renowned orthopedic surgeon Dinshaw Pardiwala has credited the NCA staff and the cricketer’s extreme motivation for his comeback.

“NCA keeping a physio with him daily. Making sure the determination and intensity was there each an every day. He has returned so quickly, six months earlier than anticipated. It is because of his drive, his extreme motivation and also he expertise in rehab aspect,” Pardiwal said.