Rishabh Pant will score more centuries than MS Dhoni, proclaims Ricky Ponting

What's the story?

Legendary Australian batsman Ricky Ponting has lavished high praise on Rishabh Pant's dynamic approach with the bat. Impressed by the 21-year old's whirlwind century in the fourth Test at Sydney, the former skipper has backed the young gloveman to score more career Test centuries than veteran wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni.

"He (Pant) is a real talent and an incredibly good ball striker. He has got a really good game sense as well, although sometimes the way he plays spin you wouldn’t think he has; but I have been lucky enough to coach him in Delhi, and he is a terrific T20 player and a clean striker", Ponting told cricket.com.au.

The 44-year old added, "And he is already onto his second hundred and a couple of 90s to go with that. He is someone who can play a lot of cricket for India in all three formats. He has got a bit of work to do with his keeping, just yet; but he will keep working on that and he will become a better keeper, and he will become a better batsman as well. We talk about Dhoni all the time and what impact he had on Indian cricket. He played a lot of Tests but has (scored) only six hundreds – this kid here (Pant) will make lot more Tests hundreds than that."

The background

In a Test career spanning from 2005 to 2014, Dhoni scored 4876 runs from 90 matches at an average of 38.09. He scored six centuries and 33 half-centuries. The flamboyant right-hander's highest score in Tests was the memorable 224 against Australia at Chennai in 2013.

The heart of the matter

Since making his Test debut at Trent Bridge during August 2018, Rishabh Pant has played nine matches thus far (including the ongoing SCG Test) and scored 696 runs at an average of 49.71 at a rapid strike-rate.

At the Oval, Pant became the first Indian wicket-keeper to score a Test century in England. He followed up that ton with scores of 92 and 92 against West Indies at home. Having made consistent contributions right throughout the series in Australia, the aggressive southpaw made a strong statement by hammering an unbeaten 189-ball 159 at Sydney.

Coming in at 329/5, Pant began sedately (by his own standards) as Cheteshwar Pujara continued to grind the Australian bowlers into the dust. After the adroit number three batsman departed for 193, the young left-hander took over and tore the bowling attack into shreds.

Pant's attacking stroke-play, which helped him belt 15 boundaries and a six, managed to capture the fascination of Ponting. At the end of the second day's play at Sydney, the Australian batting icon further reckoned that the cricket world could have another Adam Gilchrist on its hands if the Indian wicket-keeper takes his glove-work up another notch.

What's next?

Although his whirlwind century swelled India's total to 622, Pant ended the second day by dropping a comfortable catch which could have ended Usman Khawaja's stay at the crease.

As the Indian bowlers look to put the Australian batsmen under immense scoreboard pressure, the onus is on the young wicket-keeper to grab his chances on a placid track in the next few days.