Star Indian wicket-keeper batter made his Test cricket comeback after 634 days. His return was surely the one to remember as he scored a magnificent century which also put India in a very dominant position.
Team India registered a victory against Bangladesh by 280 runs taking a lead by 1-0.
Rishabh Pant Gets Compared With MS Dhoni
This is a special century for Pant because it was his first in the Test arena since December 2022, having been sidelined due to a severe car accident. But the social media chatter and cricket analyst pitch on the Indian television channels took an entirely interesting turn when Pant equaled MS Dhoni’s record for the most Test centuries by an Indian wicketkeeper—six in total. Remarkably, Pant managed to do this in almost half the number of innings it took Dhoni to achieve this.
Former Indian cricketers Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Manjrekar have also put forth the proposition that the India batter Pant has now usurped his place as the top-most Indian wicketkeeper-batter in Test history, as he has been able to better the feats of the former captain Dhoni.
Dinesh Karthik Calls Pant Vs Dhoni Debate- ‘Unacceptable’
Dinesh Karthik, in conversation Cricbuzz, called the comparison between Pant and Dhoni “unacceptable.” He rather urged fans and experts to give more time to Pant, who has played only 34 Test matches in his career, before jumping to “India’s greatest ever wicketkeeper” conclusion.
“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,” he said.
“Don’t discount 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.
Even though Pant has often been touted as Dhoni’s successor within the Indian setup, he denied all such comparisons, reminding everybody that he wishes to sculpt his own identity in sport.
