Tim Paine edged past South African wicketkeeper Quinton De Kock to register 150 dismissals in fewest Tests. The Australian skipper reached the feat when he took an easy catch of Rishabh Pant to send him packing off the bowling of Mitchell Starc. Paine has taken merely 33 Tests to reach the feat.
He went past De Kock – who took 34 Tests – to reach the milestone. The South African wicketkeeper-batsman is followed by former Australian legend Adam Gilchrist (36). In the fourth spot in the list is former South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher (38). Completing the list of Top-5 is another former Australian wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh – who took 39 Tests to reach the milestone.
Fewest Tests to 150 dismissals as WK:
33 TIM PAINE
34 Q de Kock
36 A Gilchrist
38 M Boucher
39 R Marsh
One thing that is evident when one looks at the list is that no wicketkeepers from the sub-continent feature. That is also because in the sub-continent the pacers do not get much help compared to the spinners. Also, what helped Paine was the fact that Australia has a bunch of good fast bowlers in their ranks.
Meanwhile, after dismissing the hosts for 195 on the opening day, India has taken the lead on Day 2. At the time of filing the copy, stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane is on 57* and he has Ravindra Jadeja (9*) for company.
While India will look to extend its lead, the hosts would like to get into the tail and wrap up the innings tonight. With three days still to go in the Test, a result is on the cards. The tourists – who lost the first Test at Adelaide – would like to stage a comeback and square the four-match Test series 1-1.