3 Indian Wicket-Keepers Who Have Scored ODI Centuries Outside Asia: A total of 26 different men’s wicket-keepers have played ODI cricket for India since the side played their maiden ODI in 1974.
MS Dhoni, the former skipper, has hit the most number of ODI centuries -9 – among keepers along with a staggering 73 fifties. The rest 25 others have hit a combined 6 ODI hundreds.
It is an astonishing fact that only three Indian wicket-keepers (designated in the game) have notched up ODI centuries outside Asia; and no – Dhoni isn’t among these three.
Here are the three Indian keeper-batsmen who have scored ODI hundreds outside Asia:
Rahul Dravid
It is quite a telling factor about Indian wicket-keepers’ performances outside their comfort zone, away from the familiar Asian conditions that it was not until Rahul Dravid in 1999 that no wk had hit an ODI ton outside Asia.
Dravid is the first Indian keeper-batsmen to register an ODI ton away from Asia. And his knock came at a big stage – the 1999 World Cup. He scored 145 off 129 balls against Sri Lanka in Taunton in the 1999 World Cup helping India put up a massive total of 373 along with Ganguly’s 183.
KL Rahul
After Dravid’s innings, it took another 21 years for an Indian wicket-keeper to raise a century outside Asia. Stylish batsman KL Rahul, who has been slotted in at number 5 in India’s ODI team now, smashed 112 runs off 113 balls vs New Zealand in February 2020 in Mount Maunganui.
India were in a precarious position at 62/3 before KL Rahul, in support of Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey, helped the total to 296, which was, however, comfortably hauled down by the Kiwis with 17 balls to spare courtesy of quickfire fifties from Guptill, Nicholls and De Grandhomme.
Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant, expectedly, joined this list; it had always felt inevitable that Pant, now given the crucial number 4 role, will at some point attest his place in the ODI team. He did and did it in a crucial game – the series-decider against England in July 2021 in Manchester.
Chasing 260, India had lost four wickets for 72 runs before Pant tortured the hosts bowlers with a stunning counter-attack. The southpaw thumped down 125* runs off 113 balls to help India over the line with about 8 overs to spare.
