Rishabh Pant’s sensational fourth-day performance in Galle has taken him past Shubman Gill and to the top of India’s run-scoring charts in the World Test Championship.Pant scored 66 off 69 balls in India’s second innings against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, following his 39 in the first innings. The 28-year-old’s twin contributions took his WTC tally to 2,885 runs, moving him 18 runs clear of Gill, who has 2,867 runs.Gill had a difficult outing in Galle, managing only 16 and 8 in the two innings. The Indian captain and Pant have both played 41 WTC matches, but Pant has scored his runs in 73 innings compared to Gill’s 75.Pant’s rise to the top comes during a memorable Test in which he also entered another exclusive club. His second-innings assault included two sixes, taking his career tally in Test cricket to 100 maximums. He became the first Indian batter to reach the landmark and only the fourth player overall to do so.Pant entered the match with 97 Test sixes and added one in the first innings before completing the milestone in his 66-run knock. He first cleared the boundary against Lahiru Kumara in the second innings before bringing up his 100th six with another maximum off the pacer, a shot that also took him to his half-century from 53 balls.With 2,885 WTC runs, Pant now leads a list that includes some of India’s biggest Test names. Gill is second, followed by Rohit Sharma with 2,716 runs, Ravindra Jadeja with 2,632 and Virat Kohli with 2,617. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul complete the top seven with 2,543 and 2,265 runs respectively.Pant’s WTC record currently includes six centuries and 17 fifties, while his best score is 146. His average stands at 41.81.At the top of the overall WTC run charts is England’s Joe Root, who has amassed 6,651 runs in 77 matches. Root will have another opportunity to extend that tally when England begin their three-Test series against Pakistan at Headingley on Wednesday.For Pant, however, the immediate significance is his new position at the top of India’s WTC batting charts. His latest Galle performance has pushed him ahead of Gill and added another landmark to an already eventful Test career.
