Dinesh Karthik disagreed with the claim that Rishabh Pant is greater than MS Dhoni when it comes to Test cricket after the keeper-batter made a scintillating century in his comeback Test for India. His knock came against Bangladesh in the first Test that was played in Chennai and won by the hosts by 280 runs.
Rishabh Pant just scored his sixth Test century against Bangladesh in the first Test in Chennai. With this knock, he has equaled the great MS Dhoni’s record for Test hundreds.
This was Rishabh Pant’s first Test match following recovering from a life-threatening accident in December 2022. Despite playing his first Test match in a long time, he seemed in excellent shape, smashing a stunning century in the second innings.
Following Rishabh Pant’s performance in the Chennai Test, analysts including Sanjay Manjrekar and Aakash Chopra declared him India’s finest red-ball cricketer.
Dinesh Karthik disagreed with this opinion and requested the experts to give some more time to Pant to prove his credentials.
He stated on Cricbuzz: “It’s very unacceptable to say that he’s played 34 Tests and he’s already India’s greatest wicketkeeper batter. Let’s take time, let’s not jump to conclusions but definitely he’s on course for sure and he will finish as India’s greatest ever wicketkeeper.”
MS Dhoni hit six hundreds in 90 Tests; Rishabh Pant has already tied that total in just 34 Tests. Pant is still young and will certainly reach many more milestones in the future. Furthermore, Pant has at least a hundred in each of the SENA countries.
“Don’t discount MS Dhoni’s credentials” – Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik reminded everyone of MS Dhoni’s great Test record. He said that MS Dhoni was not only a reliable wicketkeeper but also a prolific run-scorer and captain who led India to the World Test Championship, which was awarded to the top Test team at the time.
Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni have the most Test hundreds for India wicketkeepers. Pant has an amazing Test record, scoring 2419 runs in 34 Tests at an average of 44.79. He has a strike rate of 74.11 in this format.
“Don’t discount (MS) Dhoni’s credentials as a wicketkeeper as well. He not only kept brilliantly, batted and scored runs when it mattered very very well for India but also he led India to a World Test Championship mace which is becoming number 1. So you got to give all that weightage as well when you speak about a player all round,” he added.
The second Test between India and Bangladesh will begin On September 27 in Kanpur.
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