With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli no longer available in Test cricket, the likes of Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will have to take the majority of the responsibility in the upcoming five-match series against England, especially given their experience of playing in the country in the past. Gill, however, doesn’t have a good track record in England, but Rahul and Pant have been sensational.
Out of which, Pant has a brilliant opportunity to break MS Dhoni’s legendary record and become the Indian keeper-batter with the most centuries in the longest format of the game. Both Pant and Dhoni currently have six Test centuries to their name, but if the prior scores one more in the upcoming series, he can topple the two-time World Cup-winning captain. Wriddhiman Saha with three stands third, followed by Farokh Engineer, Syed Kirmiani and Budhi Kunderan.
Most Test centuries by an Indian keeper-batter
| Player | Centuries |
| MS Dhoni | 6 |
| Rishabh Pant | 6 |
| Wriddhiman Saha | 3 |
| Farokh Engineer | 2 |
| Syed Kirmani | 2 |
| Budhi Kunderan | 2 |
Pant can break another record set by Dhoni
Apart from the century tally, Pant can also surpass Dhoni’s record of most runs by an Indian keeper in SENA countries. The Ranchi-born currently leads the tally with 1731 runs, while Pant has 1681 runs to his name so far. The current India vice-captain needs only 50 runs to surpass Dhoni and own the record. Engineer, Kirmani and Kiran More stand third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Most runs by an Indian keeper-batter in SENA countries
| Player | Runs |
| MS Dhoni | 1731 |
| Rishabh Pant | 1681 |
| Farokh Engineer | 1099 |
| Syed Kirmani | 785 |
| Kiran More | 627 |
Meanwhile, India’s tour of England is set to begin on June 20 at Headingley. Ahead of that, Pant confirmed that he will continue at number five, while newly-appointed skipper Gill will bat at number four. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal are very likely to open, but the team management is yet to finalise on the number three spot.
When it comes to bowling, Jasprit Bumrah will be playing only three Test matches in the series. Keeping that in mind, the team management has added Harshit Rana to the squad.
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