Young Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant equalled the World Record of most catches by a stumper, grabbing 11 catches in India’s historic win against Australia on Monday at the Adelaide Oval. The 21-year-old is now level with Englishman Jack Russell (vs South Africa at Johannesburg in 1995) and South Africa's AB de Villiers (vs Pakistan at Johannesburg in 2013).
After reaching this amazing feat, Pant described former skipper MS Dhoni as "the hero of the country" and said the former skipper taught him to be patient and handle pressure situations.
“He's (Dhoni) the hero of the country,” Pant, who took six catches in Australia's first innings to equal Dhoni on that mark, told cricket.com.au.
“I've learnt a lot from him as a person and as a cricketer as well. Whenever he's around, I feel more confident as a person. If I've got any problems I can share it with him and get a solution right away. As a wicketkeeper and a player (he's taught me) to be patient in pressure situations like this (in Adelaide). You have to keep calm and keep composed and try to give 100 per cent,” Pant added.
Talking about the record, Pant said, “I never thought of the record but it's good to take some catches and put it inside my kitty. It's good to have milestones, but I'm not thinking about that too much.”
Pant took 6 catches in the first innings and equalled MS Dhoni’s record of most runs by an Indian wicketkeeper in an innings, which he set in 2009 against New Zealand in Wellington. In the second innings, Pant took the 11th catch to dismiss Mitchell Starc and thus, set the record.
He also went ahead of Wriddhiman Saha’s record to be on the top. Saha took 10 catches during the Cape Town Test earlier this year