Stats: Rishabh Pant becomes third Indian to go past 150 catches in Test cricket

Rishabh Pant added yet another feather to his illustrious cap by becoming the third Indian to complete 150 catches in Test match cricket. He achieved this feat during the third day of the ongoing first Test between India and England at Headingley, Leeds. With this milestone, Pant has entered an elite list of wicketkeepers with at least 150 catches in Test cricket in Indian outfit, the other two being Syed Kirmani and MS Dhoni.

Despite Kirmani and Dhoni achieving the feat much earlier in the past, Pant has become the fastest to reach the wicketkeeping landmark for the Baggy Blues. MS Dhoni took 166 innings to end his career with 256 caught dismissals. Syed Kirmani, who played 88 Tests for the Indian team between 1976 and 1986, took 151 innings to complete 160 catches before calling a time on his red-ball career in internationals. Surprisingly, Pant took just 86 innings, which is a fantastic feat for the wicketkeeper-batter, who also has the most hundreds (7) with that role.

Pant achieved the feat by taking Ollie Pope’s catch behind the wickets off Prasidh Krishna’s bowling during the morning session on the third day of the Headingley Test. Roughly an hour later, he also made no mistake to grab the outside edge of English skipper Ben Stokes, this time off Mohammed Siraj’s beautiful delivery on the off-stump.

Most catches by Indian wicket-keeper In Tests

Pant needs just 10 more catches to breach past Syed Kirmani for the second spot, and if he doesn’t make a mess of the opportunities, the feat could well be achieved in the five-match series itself, with nine more innings still on the cards for the tour. His contributions with the bat have already helped the Indian team gain advantage, as he scored his seventh Test hundred to notch up a brilliant 134-run knock, laced with 12 fours and six maximums.