I Thought Maybe MS Dhoni Would Have Done It - Farokh Engineer On Rishabh Pant Equalling His 49-Year-Old Record In Tests

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Farokh Engineer said he was expecting MS Dhoni would equal his 49-year-old record in Test cricket and lavished praise on Rishabh Pant to achieve it in the ongoing fifth Test against England.

After a scintillating century (146 off 111 balls) in the first innings to guide India to a formidable score, Pant hit 57 in the second innings to become the second gloveman from the country to make a hundred and the fifty in the same Test match.

Rishabh Pant joins Farokh Engineer in a rare record in Test cricket by an Indian wicketkeeper

Engineer scored 121 in the first innings and followed it up with a 66 against England in a drawn match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in 1973. Former Indian skipper Dhoni scored 4876 runs in 90 Test matches with 33 half-centuries and six hundreds to his name before retiring from the format in 2014.

Rishabh is a fantastic cricketer, I expected MS Dhoni to equal the record: Farokh Engineer

Engineer feels surprising that it took almost five decades for any wicketkeeper to equal the record and called Pant a fantastic player.

“I am delighted for Rishabh. He is a fantastic cricketer. I thought maybe MS Dhoni would have done it, but I am surprised that it took so long for an Indian wicketkeeper to equal that record,” Engineer told Sportstar.

“I have always thought of Rishabh as a fabulous batter, and a fabulous young man, even though I have met him only once. He has got the measure and responsibility because earlier, he would throw away his wicket so many times.

“I used to tell myself, ‘He is so talented, why doesn’t he just play the right shot?’ He has got such good eyes and is such a good entertainer,” the 84-year-old added. 

In the first innings, Pant completed 2000 Test runs and also surpassed MS Dhoni’s record of fastest hundred by an Indian wicketkeeper in Tests. Pant took 89 balls to notch up his fifth Test hundred while Dhoni achieved the feat in 93 balls during the Faisalabad Test against Pakistan in 2006.

Also Read: ENG vs IND: Rishabh Pant Leapfrogs VVS Laxman And Gautam Gambhir In The List Of Most Runs By Indian Batters Against England