Rishabh Pant surpasses MS Dhoni’s away/neutral Test run tally in Colombo
Rishabh Pant reached the 2,500-run mark in away or neutral Test matches while making 63 in India’s first innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Day 2. The innings took him past MS Dhoni’s previous total for Indian designated wicket-keepers in away or neutral Tests.
Pant had suffered a blow to his wrist on Day 1 and left the field, then returned to resume his innings on Day 2 after the dismissal of debutant Saransh Jain in the opening session; he continued batting despite the discomfort and helped India to a formidable score. The milestone was recorded during the second Test of India’s tour of Sri Lanka.
The 63 lifted Pant’s aggregate in away or neutral Tests to 2,501 at an average of 41.68. MS Dhoni’s corresponding total as a designated wicket-keeper batter in away or neutral Tests for India stood at 2,496 at an average of 32.84.
Earlier custodians of India’s away-Test wicket-keeper run totals included Farokh Engineer, who amassed 1,209 runs and remained the country’s highest run-getter in away Tests for nearly four decades, followed by Syed Kirmani and Kiran More. Pant’s new total places him ahead of those predecessors in the specific away/neutral wicket-keeper tally.
The milestone adds to a series of records Pant has accumulated as India’s wicket-keeper batter: in 2024 he became the fastest Indian wicket-keeper to cross the 2,500-run mark in Test cricket, and in 2025 his seventh Test century moved him past Dhoni to become the Indian wicket-keeper with the most Test centuries. In the opening match of this series at Galle, Pant became the first Indian batter to reach 100 sixes in Test cricket, achieving that figure in his 51st Test, the fastest by any cricketer in the world.
Statistically, Pant is recorded in the source as India’s highest-scoring batter with 2,948 runs and has six centuries in away Tests, the most by an Indian designated wicket-keeper batter. These figures are presented alongside his new away/neutral-Test total.
The landmark occurred in the second Test of India’s tour of Sri Lanka in Colombo, a series that began with the opening match at Galle.
