Rishabh Pant breaks MS Dhoni's record to achieve record rating points by an Indian wicketkeeper-batsman

After playing one of his best knocks ever at Brisbane, Rishabh Pant the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman has broken a record which was set by MS Dhoni. On Wednesday, the International Cricket Council announced the latest Test rankings as the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 ended with India scripting a historic series win at the Gabba in Brisbane.

Rishabh Pant moved to the career-best 13th place in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen. He is now the best-ranked wicketkeeper-batsman in the world, two places ahead of the second-best, South African wicketkeeper and captain, Quinton de Kock. 

Rishabh Pant: the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world as per ICC Test rankings

Coming back to the record which Pant broke, the Delhi player now has rating points of 691. No Indian wicketkeeper has ever had rating points as high as his. The previous record was held by the former Indian captain MS Dhoni. The legendary cricketer has reached 662 rating points on the ICC Test batsmen rankings once in his Test career, which was the best for any Indian wicketkeeper. Followed by him, there is Farookh Engineer, who had a career rating of 619 points once. 

Pant wasn’t the first-choice keeper when India started the series in Adelaide. Wriddhiman Saha, who is a better wicket-keeper and has world-class skills behind the stumps was preferred. However, for the second Test, India opted for a much more aggressive approach of having an extra bowler in the mix. This allowed Pant to come into the XI. 

Rishabh Pant makes a serious case for selection in the home Test matches

The left-handed batsman didn’t have the best time behind the stumps, but he did justify his selections with two knocks which would be remembered for a very long time. He first played a knock of 97 in the Sydney Test, where he played some amazing shots and put the Aussies on the backfoot. He then backed that knock up with another classic at the Gabba.

This time, he was there to hit the winning runs and seal the series win with his unbeaten 89, which ensured India retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy. It will be interesting to see if the Indian team management backs Pant for playing in the Test series against England at home. On turning pitches, Wriddhiman Saha should be the preferred option as the keeper, but Pant is making quite a case with his batting.