Rishabh Pant shatters batting records in century at Sydney vs Australia

Rishabh Pant shattered some records when he blasted his second century on day 2 of the fourth and final Test against Australia in Sydney. Pant let his bat do the talking as he boosted India towards a massive total. Pant’s century shattered plenty of records for an Indian wicketkeeper and his exploits have taken India one step closer to achieving a rare Test series against Australia in a series Down Under. The Delhi keeper shattered a new world record for wicketkeepers as he took his 20th catch of the series between India and Australia during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. In Adelaide, he took the joint-most number of catches in a Test with 11, equaling the mark set by England’s Jack Russell and South Africa’s AB de Villiers.

However, in Sydney, he created plenty of batting records. Pant became the first Indian wicketkeeper in history to score a century in a Test in Australia. The previous best was 89 by Farokh Engineer in the first Test in Adelaide in 1967. With his second century, Pant became the first Indian keeper ever to hit two centuries overseas. His previous century was in The Oval Test against England when he hit 114. Wriddhiman Saha, Vijay Manjrekar and Ajay Ratra have hit centuries in West Indies while MS Dhoni hit 148 in Pakistan. Things got better for Pant as he blasted a maiden 150, becoming the first Indian keeper and 12th overall to score 150+ in an overseas Test.

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In his knock of 114, Pant also became the first Indian keeper to hit a century in England. The previous best was by Dhoni in 2007 when he blasted 92 at The Oval in a series where only Anil Kumble was the lone centurion. Pant joins an elite list of wicketkeepers who has scored more than two centuries in overseas Tests. Moin Khan and Mushfiqur Rahim are the others who have achieved this feat.

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Pant’s achievement in Sydney is staggering considering the fact that he is the only Asian keeper to have hit a century Down Under. His century, combined with his fine keeping and sledging, has put India on course for a famous series win Down Under.

In this series, he has been involved in an epic sledging contest with Tim Paine, the Australian captain. When Paine came to the crease in Melbourne, Pant said, “We got a special guest today. Have you ever heard of a temporary captain, ever, Mayank (Agarwal)? You don't need anything to get him out, boy. He loves to talk, that's the only thing he can do, boy! Only, talking, talking, talking,” Pant retorted in grand style.