Top 5 scores by Indian wicketkeepers in Test cricket
Rishabh Pant has only played eight Test matches for India but he already has several records to his name thanks to his two centuries.
His first century which came against England at the Oval in September 2018 made him the second-youngest wicketkeeper to score a Test century and also it was also the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper in England surpassing the 92 by Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the same venue in 2007.
The 21-year-old scored his second century against Australia at the SCG in a swashbuckling manner and broke several other records belonging to wicketkeeper-batsman.
Pant’s 159* versus Australia was a record-breaking innings but it isn’t the highest by an Indian keeper in Test matches. However, it is good enough to make the list of top 5 scores by an Indian wicketkeeper in Test cricket.
Note: Vijay Manjrekar's 189* is not included in the list because he was an occasional keeper and he played that game as a batsman.
#5 MS Dhoni - 148 vs Pakistan in Faisalabad, 2006
MS Dhoni has scored 148 versus Pakistan in a Test match and an ODI but the former is not as memorable as the latter because it came in a drawn Test.
In the second Test of India’s tour of Pakistan in 2005/06, the hosts scored 588 in the first innings with Shahid Afridi scoring 156 of 128 balls. In reply, India started well but from 2/236 the team collapsed to 5/281 with MS Dhoni and Irfan Pathan at the crease.
India needed another 107 runs to avoid follow-on but Dhoni did not let the pressure get to him. He played in his natural aggressive manner and reached his fifty in only 34 balls. He then reached his hundred in 93 balls.
By the time Dhoni was dismissed for 148, India amassed 491 runs. Thanks to Pathan’s 90 and contributions from the lower order, India scored 603 runs and surpassed Pakistan’s mammoth total.