Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik has opened up on the debate about India’s best wicketkeeper in Tests. Karthik himself was a wicketkeeper and shared the field with Dhoni and Pant.
Recently, Rishabh Pant smashed his record sixth hundred in a Test against Bangladesh in the first Test in Chennai. With this knock, he equalled the great MS Dhoni in the number of Test hundreds.
This was Rishabh Pant’s first Test match since his return from the life-threatening accident in December 2022. Despite playing a Test match after a long time, he did not seem out of form and scored a brilliant hundred in the second innings of the match.
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Rishabh Pant vs MS Dhoni: Dinesh Karthik disagrees with pundits on India’s best wicketkeeper
Following Rishabh Pant’s exploits in the Chennai Test, pundits like Sanjay Manjrekar and Aakash Chopra rated him as India’s best red-ball cricketer. However, Dinesh Karthik disagreed with this view and asked the pundits to give Pant more time to prove his credentials.
“It is totally unacceptable to say that he has played 34 Test matches and is already the best wicket-keeper batsman in India. Let’s take some time, let’s not jump to any conclusions, but he is definitely on the right track and will end up as the best wicket-keeper in India of all time,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
While MS Dhoni scored 6 hundreds in 90 Tests, Rishabh Pant has equalled this record in just 34 Tests. Pant is young now and is likely to achieve many more milestones in the future. Apart from this, Pant also has at least a hundred in all SENA countries.
“Let’s not discount MS Dhoni’s credentials” – Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik reminded everyone about MS Dhoni’s incredible records in Tests. He stated that MS Dhoni was not only a confident wicket-keeper but also a prolific run-scorer and a captain who led India to a World Test Championship, which was handed over to the No. 1 Test team during that period.
“(MS) Dhoni’s credentials as a wicketkeeper should not be underestimated. He not only kept wicket brilliantly, batted and scored runs when it mattered a lot for India, but also led India to a world Test championship which is making them No. 1. So you have to give him all that importance when you talk about a complete player as well,” he added.
Both Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni have the most hundreds in Tests for an Indian wicketkeeper. Pant has an incredible record in Test cricket where he has scored 2419 runs in 34 Tests at an average of 44.79. He has a strike rate of 74.11 in the format.
Clearly, Pant has proven to be a decisive player for India, especially in Tests. While his record is excellent in Test cricket, he is yet to find his groove in ODIs and T20Is. In the coming years, he is likely to be an integral part of the team across all formats.
India will play a home Test series against New Zealand after the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh. They will then travel to Australia for a five-match Test series.