Cranial nerve palsy following closed head injury is not very uncommon. Third nerve palsy may occur after a direct traumatic insult or indirect injury due to brain shift and herniation. Selective involvement of peripheral fibers of the third nerve is a very rare event after closed head injury. In this article, we report a rare case of peripheral third nerve paresis due to total avulsion of sphenoid wing following closed head injury with spontaneous full recovery of paresis.