Hopefully he'll recover soon and be back on the path: Ganguly on Pant

Kolkata: Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday hoped Rishabh Pant would soon recover from the injuries he sustained in his car crash and "be back on the path." The India wicketkeeper-batter met with a horrifying accident when he lost control of his car while driving on NH-58 on Friday. He is currently admitted at Max Hospital Dehradun with multiple injuries on head, back, knee and ankle.

"I wish him speedy recovery that's all I can say. You know things happen in life and you need to move on so hopefully he'll recover soon and be back on the path soon," Ganguly said on the sidelines of a promotional event here.

Pant's injuries, especially the ones on knee and ankle, are expected to keep him out of action for a minimum period of six months.

The former BCCI president, who is set to become Delhi Capitals' Director of Cricket, said Qatar has done a remarkable job of hosting the FIFA World Cup.

"You know I follow football closely and I understand it a little bit also. I may have played cricket but I understand this sport a bit. I think this is the best football World Cup match I've seen in my life," Ganguly said.

"Russia was very good and I think there was lot of criticism of Qatar hosting the football world cup but I think they've taken it to another level. I think it's been a very successful world cup." The 50-year-old lavished praise on French forward Kylian Mbappe, who scored four goals in the summit clash but still ended on the losing side.

"Mbappe is absolute gold and I think he may not have slept since that World Cup final because very rarely you'll score four goals in a World Cup and still be on the losing side and that's what happened to him.

"He's won a World Cup at the age of 19 and another word cup finale at the age of 23 so the world is at his feet." Lionel Messi finally won the trophy he yearned for most and Ganguly feels it was "befitting" that the Argentine maestro won the cup in his last attempt.

"I think it's befitting for Messi (to win) in his last World Cup. At the age of 35 he finishes his World Cup career with a trophy which also goes to show that however good you're and however great you're you still have to fight years and years to win a World Cup.

"It took him sixteen years to win a World Cup for Argentina and I think it was phenomenal to watch the pace which can't be realised on TV."