Debutant Rishabh Pant and opening batsman KL Rahul have joined an elite company of Indian players with their achievements on the field in the ongoing third Test against England in Nottingham.

On Tuesday, India were on the verge of victory. They need just one wicket to wrap up England innings and make it 1-2 in the five-match rubber.

After setting an improbable target of 521, Indian bowlers and fielders came to the party. Jasprit Bumrah was the star with the ball as he took five wickets. The hosts ended the fourth day at 311/9.

As Bumrah produced magic with the cherry, Rahul complemented the bowlers in the slips by taking catches. In total, he has taken seven catches (three in first innings and four in second).

This achievement of taking five or more catches in a match put him alongside former captains Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, Kris Srikkanth and others.

In the first innings, it was wicket-keeper Pant, who took five catches. He added two more.

Twenty-year-old Pant, who has made his Test debut at Trent Bridge, had Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid as first innings victims while again he pouched Jennings and Woakes’ catches in the second essay.

Rahul caught Joe Root (twice), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (twice), Cook and Stuart Broad.

With this, the duo of Rahul and Pant has become the fourth Indian duo to have five or more catches in a Test match.

They joined the pairs of Mohammad Azharuddin-Kiran More against Pakistan in Karachi, 1989, Kris Srikkanth-More against Australia, Perth, 1992, Sourav Ganguly-SS Das versus Bangladesh, Dhaka, 2000.

Earlier, Pant had also set a record for becoming the first Indian wicket-keeper to take five catches in the first innings on debut. He also became the first Indian batsman to open his run account in Test cricket with a six.