All about Test wicketkeepers (Part IV): Rishabh Pant in focus

Rishabh Pant features in the elite list of young stumpers to take eight or more dismissals in a Test. He took 11 catches against Australia in Adelaide in 2018.

India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant in action in Australia in 2018.

Since the very beginning of cricket, a wicketkeeper’s skill has always been applied behind the wickets. His most important skill is his ability to catch the ball, be it with one hand or both, either from a nearly stationary position standing close to the batsman or affecting a quick dive or sprint, or even a stumping. However, in modern-day cricket, a ’keeper’s job specs are not only to perform well behind the wickets in terms of taking catches, executing stumpings and limiting the number of byes, but to also perform well as a batsman. Therefore, the position is of a specialist or an all-rounder in the playing XI.

In the fourth and final part of this statistical analysis on Test wicketkeepers, we take a look at the youngest and oldest to keep wickets in Test cricket. Some of them have also the distinction of registering centuries and claiming maximum dismissals at a very young or old age. The tables below list all such players.

Teenage Test wicketkeepers on debut

Age	Wicketkeeper	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
17 years, 152 days	Parthiv Patel	India	England	Nottingham	August 8, 2002	Drawn
17 years, 300 days	Hanif Mohammad	Pakistan	India	Delhi	October 16, 1952	Lost
18 years, 66 days	Tatenda Taibu	Zimbabwe	West Indies	Bulawayo	July 19, 2001	Lost
18 years, 167 days	Ikram Aikhil	Afghanistan	Ireland	Dehradun	March 15, 2019	Won
19 years, 52 days	Asanka Gurusinha	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Karachi	November 7, 1985	Lost
19 years, 61 days	Moin Khan	Pakistan	West Indies	Faisalabad	November 23, 1990	Lost
19 years, 77 days	Ivan Barrow	West Indies	England	Kingston	April 3, 1930	Drawn
19 years, 126 days	Wasim Bari	Pakistan	England	Lord’s	July 27, 1967	Drawn
19 years, 155 days	Dinesh Karthik	India	Australia	Mumbai (Wankhede)	November 3, 2004	Won
19 years, 163 days	Adam Parore	New Zealand	England	Birmingham	July 5, 1990	Lost

Oldest Test wicketkeepers on debut

Age	Wicketkeeper	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
39 years, 360 days	Arthur Wood	England	Australia	The Oval	August 20, 1938	Won
38 years, 272 days	Johnny Lindsay	South Africa	England	Nottingham	June 7, 1947	Drawn
37 years, 184 days	Hammy Love	Australia	England	Brisbane	February 10, 1933	Lost
37 years, 33 days	Harry Smith	England	West Indies	Lord’s	June 23, 1928	Won
36 years, 185 days	Niall O’Brien	Ireland	Pakistan	Dublin	May 12, 2018	Lost
36 years, 94 days	Harry Elliot	England	South Africa	Durban	February 4, 1928	Lost
36 years, 88 days	Fred Price	England	Australia	Leeds	July 22, 1938	Lost

Note: Fred Price and Arthur Wood kept wickets for England in successive Test matches, as did Harry Elliott and Harry Smith.

Oldest Test wicketkeepers

Age	Wicketkeeper	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
46 years, 202 days	Bert Strudwick	England	Australia	The Oval	August 18, 1926	Won
43 years, 259 days	Sammy Carter	Australia	South Africa	Cape Town	November 29, 1926	Won
42 years, 257 days	Dick Lilley	England	Australia	The Oval	August 11, 1909	Drawn
42 years, 251 days	Bert Strudwick	England	Pakistan	Lahore	March 24, 1984	Drawn
42 years, 175 days	Bert Oldfield	Australia	England	Melbourne	March 3, 1937	Won
42 years, 103 days	Harry Elliot	England	India	Madras	February 13, 1934	Won
40 years, 362 days	Arthur Wood	England	West Indies	The Oval	August 22, 1939	Drawn
40 years, 223 days	Jack Blackham	Australia	England	Sydney	December 20, 1894	Lost
40 years, 153 days	Alec Stewart	England	South Africa	The Oval	September 4, 2003	Won

Youngest wicketkeepers to make a maiden Test century

Age	Wicketkeeper	Score	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
20 years, 150 days	Ajay Ratra	115*	India	West Indies	St John’s	May 12, 2002	Drawn
20 years, 342 days	Rishabh Pant	114	India	England	The Oval	September 11, 2018	Lost
21 years, 188 days	Vijay Manjrekar	118	India	West Indies	Kingston	April 2, 1953	Drawn
21 years, 248 days	Tatenda Taibu	153	Zimbabwe	Bangladesh	Dhaka	January 17, 2005	Drawn
22 years, 43 days	Mark Boucher	100	South Africa	West Indies	Centurion	January 15, 1999	Won

Ajay Ratra.

 

Youngest wicketkeeper to make a Test 200

Age	Wicketkeeper	Score	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
24 years, 131 days	Kumar Sangakkara	230	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Lahore	March 7, 2002	Won

Kumar Sangakkara

 

Oldest wicketkeepers to make a maiden Test century

Age	Wicketkeeper	Score	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
38 years, 98 days	Harry Wood	134*	England	South Africa	Cape Town	March 21, 1892	Won
35 years, 111 days	Dave Richardson	109	South Africa	New Zealand	Cape Town	January 5, 1995	Won
34 years, 262 days	Billy Wade	125	South Africa	England	Port Elizabeth	March 7, 1949	Lost
33 years, 265 days	Alec Stewart	101*	England	Zimbabwe	Harare	December 29, 1996	Drawn

Oldest wicketkeeper to make a Test 200

Age	Wicketkeeper	Score	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
34 years, 138 days	Bradley-John Watling	205	New Zealand	England	Mount Maunganui	November 24, 2019	Won

Youngest wicketkeepers to take five or more dismissals in a Test innings

Age	Wicketkeeper	Dismissals	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
20 years, 319 days	Rishabh Pant	5 (5 catches)	India	England	Nottingham	August 19, 2018	Won
20 years, 326 days	Chris Read	6 (5 catches+1 stumping)	England	New Zealand	Birmingham	July 2, 1999	Won
21 years, 8 days	Adam Parore	5 (5 catches)	New Zealand	England	Auckland	January 31, 1992	Lost
21 years, 48 days	Niroshan Dickwella	5 (5 catches)	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Galle	August 10, 2014	Won
20 years, 54 days	Niroshan Dickwella	5 (5 catches)	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Colombo (SSC)	August 16, 2014	Won

Note:

The youngest Test keeper to claim seven dismissals in an innings is Pakistan’s Wasim Bari (30 years, 337 days) against New Zealand at Auckland on February 23, 1979, in a draw.

The oldest Test keeper to claim seven dismissals in an innings is England’s Bob Taylor (38 years, 213 days) against India at Mumbai (Wankhede) on February, 15, 1980, in a winning cause.

Oldest wicketkeepers to claim five or more dismissals in a Test innings

Age	Wicketkeeper	Dismissals	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
38 years, 284 days	Wally Grout	5 (5 catches)	Australia	England	Sydney	January 8, 1966	Lost
38 years, 213 days	Bob Taylor	7 (7 catches)	England	India	Mumbai (Wankhede)	February 15, 1980	Won
38 years, 104 days	Alec Stewart	5 (5 catches)	England	Australia	Lord’s	July 21, 2001	Lost
37 years, 233 days	Brad Haddin	5 (5 catches)	Australia	West Indies	Kingston	June 13, 2015	Won
37 years, 137 days	Bob Taylor	5 (5 catches)	England	Australia	Brisbane	December 1, 1978	Won

Youngest wicketkeepers to claim eight or more dismissals in a Test match

Age	Wicketkeeper	Dismissals	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
20 years, 326 days	Chris Read	8 (7 catches+1 stumping)	England	New Zealand	Birmingham	July 2, 1999	Won
21 years, 67 days	Rishabh Pant	11 (11 catches)	India	Australia	Adelaide	December 10, 2018	Won
21 years, 97 days	Mark Boucher	9 (8 catches+1 stumping)	South Africa	Pakistan	Port Elizabeth	March 10, 1998	Won
21 years, 215 days	Quinton de Kock	9 (8 catches+1 stumping)	South Africa	Sri Lanka	Galle	July 20, 2014	Won
23 years, 40 days	Quinton de Kock	8 (8 catches)	South Africa	England	Centurion	January 26, 2016	Won

Oldest wicketkeepers to claim eight or more dismissals in a Test match

Age	Wicketkeeper	Dismissals	Country	Opponent	Venue	Date	Result
38 years, 217 days	Bob Taylor	10 (10 catches)	England	India	Mumbai (Wankhede)	February 19, 1980	Won
37 years, 58 days	Brad Haddin	9 (9 catches)	Australia	India	Brisbane	December 20, 2014	Won
36 years, 286 days	Gil Langley	9 (8 catches+1 stumping)	Australia	England	Lord’s	June 26, 1956	Won
36 years, 266 days	Alec Stewart	8 (8 catches)	England	South Africa	Durban	December 30, 1999	Drawn
36 years, 55 days	Brad Haddin	8 (8 catches)	Australia	England	Perth	December 17, 2013	Won