NEW DELHI: India's international cricketer Rishabh Pant who was travelling from Delhi to Uttarakhand towards his home town Roorkee met with a serious accident early today morning when the Mercedes car that he was driving caught fire after hitting a divider at Narsan in Haridwar district.

According to reports quoting police officials, their initial assessment is that it's possible Pant lost control after falling asleep while self-driving the luxury car.

The officials said that the accident which was near fatal took place at about 5.30 am on the Delhi-Dehradun highway and the impact of the hit on the divider railing was so strong that the vehicle rolled over a few times before it caught fire. 

The intensity of the accident can be gauged from the fact that the high-end luxury Mercedes car was reduced to a totally mangled condition after the impact and the fire and in that respect, it can be said that Pant has been lucky to have escaped out of it safely. 

Pant who managed to break out of the vehicle was helped out by the driver and conductor of a Haryana state-run bus which was close behind him and with the assistance of police officials from a nearby checkpost rushed Pant to a nearby hospital. Although he is injured on his knee, back and forehead, his condition is said to be stable.  

According to police, he was first rushed to Saksham Hospital Multispecialty and Trauma Centre in nearby Roorkee where he received preliminary treatment, after which he was referred later to Max Hospital, Dehradun. 

The doctors have said that they would do several scans to determine if there was any severe injury and further treatment would be advised.

The 25-year-old Pant plays for the Indian cricket team as a wicket-keeper batter and is best known for his consistency to score runs in Test cricket. He plays for Delhi in domestic cricket and captains Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.

He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for India in January 2017, his Test debut in August 2018, and his One Day International (ODI) debut in October 2018. In January 2019, Pant was named the ICC Men's Emerging Cricketer of the Year at the 2018 ICC Awards.