Pant surpasses Dhoni to become fastest Indian stumper to reach 1000 runs in Test cricket

PTI, Jan 19, 2021, 4:44 PM IST

Brisbane: Rishabh Pant on Tuesday surpassed the iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni to become the fastest Indian wicketkeeper-batsman to reach the 1000-run mark in Test cricket.

Pant achieved the feat in only 27 innings, scoring at an average of 40.04. Dhoni had taken 32 innings to reach the milestone.

Coming on to bat in India’s second innings in the fourth and final Test against Australia at the Gabba on Tuesday, Pant needed only one run to achieve the record and he fetched it by pulling Pat Cummins to get off the mark with a double.

Besides Pant and Dhoni, there are five other Indian stumpers — Farokh Engineer (36 innings), Wriddhiman Saha (37 innings), Nayan Mongia (39 innings), Syed Kirmani (45 innings) and Kiran More (50 innings) — who touched the 1000-run milestone in Test cricket.

South Africa’s Quinton de Kock holds the record for being the fastest wicketkeeper batsman to reach 1000 runs in Test matches. He did in 21 innings.

De Kock is followed by Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal (22 innings), England’s Jonny Bairstow (22 innings), the legendary Kumar Sangakkara (23 innings) and AB de Villiers of South Africa (23 innings).

In 2019, Pant became the fastest Indian glovesman to account for 50 dismissals in Test cricket against the West Indies.

Pant scored a match-winning 89 not out off 138 balls on Tuesday as India claimed the fourth and final Test against Australia to clinch the series 2-1, thereby ending the home team’s 32-year-old unbeaten run at the ‘Fortress Gabba’.