IND vs SA: Rishabh Pant Becomes Fourth Indian Wicket-Keeper To Take 100 Catches In Tests

Indian wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant joined the likes of MS Dhoni in the elite club of keepers with 100 catches or more in the longest format of the game.

The 24-year-old achieved the feat against South Africa during the ongoing second Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. He took the catch of Lungi Ngidi to wrap up the first innings of South Africa.

He becomes only the fourth wicket-keeper after MS Dhoni, Syed Kirmani, and Kiran More to take 100 catches or more in Tests. Dhoni leads the way with 256 catches, Kirmani is next with 160 while More has 110 catches to his name.

Pant’s performance comes after he beat Dhoni’s record of fastest to 100 dismissals in Test cricket in the first Test. Dhoni took 36 games to effect 100 dismissals while Pant managed to do it in ten fewer matches.

Shardul Thakur pulls India back into the game

Heading into Day 2, South Africa held all the aces. They had two good batsmen in Dean Elgar and Keegan Petersen at the crease and the duo built a fighting partnership for the second wicket. It needed a three-wicket burst from Shardul Thakur to bring India back into the game before Lunch.

Soon after, Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne began a counter-attack and milked runs at a quick rate. India was severely under pressure but Thakur came to the fore once again. He sent back both the set batsmen before a wicket each for Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah brought the Proteas down.

Thakur applied the finishing touches and took two more wickets to end up with stunning figures of 7/61. It is the best performance by an Indian bowler on South African soil and the joint-best figures at Wanderers since South Africa’s reinstatement in 1992.

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