Rishabh Pant, who hit two centuries in the Headingley Test, now trails top-ranked batter Joe Root by just 88 points.
England were closing in on a crushing victory over Zimbabwe at the close on the second day of the one-off Test on Friday, despite opener Brian Bennett scoring the fastest Test century for the African side.
The duo is followed by a former Sri Lanka icon, Mahela Jayawardene, with 205 outfield catches in 149 appearances.
In the recently concluded five-match Test series against England, India's star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant stood tall as a beacon of determination, battling through injuries to deliver a string of gutsy, crowd-pleasing knocks that underlined his value to the side.
He has taken nine five-wicket hauls in SENA conditions.
'The captain's an outstanding player. I think his technique is superb. His concentration and his temperament over this series has been brilliant.'
The swashbuckling left-hander has a solid record in England, with 808 runs in 10 Tests and 19 innings at an average of 42.52, with four centuries and two fifties. His best score is 146.
'He saw opportunities and brought in the right kind of bowlers.'
South Africa completed an innings and 236-run victory over hosts Zimbabwe on the third day of the second Test on Tuesday to convincingly sweep the two-match series.
'When you play two spinners surely the way for beating them, you get runs on the board and hope the pitch deteriorates.'
Rishabh Pant completes 3000 Test runs; surpasses MS Dhoni to become Asia's most successful wicketkeeper-batter in SENA
Sources close to the development indicated that Khawaja's decision stems from SEN's controversial dismissal of Lalor earlier this year, a move that has continued to raise eyebrows within the cricketing community.
'Most of the batters performed. I would say that is a very good sign going forward. Apart from this you have got three quality batters who are not even part of the squad -- Shreyas (Iyer), Sarfaraz (Khan) and (Devdutt) Padikkal.'
True to form, Pant brought up his seventh Test hundred in the most Pant-esque way possible, with a soaring one-handed six off Shoaib Bashir. A
Boycott slams ECB over underperforming Woakes, Crawley
India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has continued his red-hot form, adding another fifer to his kitty to become the first Asian player ever to have 150 wickets in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA) nations.
Indian skipper Shubman Gill confirmed that world's best fast bowler will be back during the third Test starting July 10 and Stokes wasn't amused that he would be asked about the fast bowling talisman for zillionth time.
Ganguly said he would have preferred Arshdeep over Prasidh Krishna.
'The most important thing for India is to throw the counter punch almost immediately.'
In summary, excluding the inactive innings, his recent conversion record reads rather poor with no half-centuries since his eminent legendary debut knock.
'They (Gill, Jaiswal and Pant) now have to drag this Indian Test team forward like Virat did single-handedly.'
The trio of Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj managed just four runs between them in the two innings of the first Test against England in Headingley.
Selected at number three ahead of the burgeoning talent of Jacob Bethell, who averaged 52 on his first Test tour of New Zealand, Pope settled after early scares to compile his ninth Test century.
The temperatures in Leeds are expected to hover between 15 to 21C which is not ideal for batting, especially under cloudy skies and breezy conditions.
'Bosch is new to the international scene, but he's really fit in well. To see him conquer both facets (bat and ball) in this Test was really special.'
Who do you think should be part of the Indian team for the fifth Test against England?
This was the first time in five years that India had put down so many chances in an innings.
Rishabh worked on his defence after Australia failures, says childhood coach Devender Sharma
'It's also a great opportunity for myself and it's good to pass on a little bit of knowledge to the younger guys who haven't played as much Test cricket. And I am also learning from them.'
All my centuries are special, Gill and I were trying to bat session by session: Jaiswal
Pant now has three Test centuries on English soil.
Gavaskar didn't mince words as he tore into India's sub-par work in the field, both in terms of dropped chances and overall outfielding.
Newcastle United thumped Crystal Palace 5-0 at St James' Park on Wednesday to go third in the Premier League table with a sixth consecutive win in all competitions as Jacob Murphy scored one goal and set up another.
Shubman Gill admits India needs to relook lower-order batting after loss in 1st Test
Technique and natural pace may me Jadeja's undoing in England
This chase marked the sixth time under the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum leadership that England had hauled in targets of 250 or more in the fourth innings.
Indian men's hockey team chief coach Craig Fulton has expressed his satisfaction with the talent on display at the National Championship, highlighting the team's depth, especially in goalkeeping.
Hockey India has announced a 24-member Indian men's team for the European leg of the FIH Hockey Pro League, set to be played in Amstelveen, Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium, from June 7.
Spinner Taijul Islam picked up a five-wicket haul to give Bangladesh the upper hand against Zimbabwe on Day 1 of the second Test.
A Delhi court has accepted the Enforcement Directorate's closure report in a money laundering case against Suresh Kalmadi, the former head of the organising committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and then secretary general Lalit Bhanot, bringing an end to the money laundering angle in the alleged scam. The court noted that the ED's investigation failed to find evidence of money laundering, and the CBI had already closed the corruption case based on which the ED launched its probe.
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