Which male cricketer has taken the most catches in a Test match?

At the time of writing, the male cricketer who has taken the most catches in a Test match is Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane is a talented middle-order batsman, who has played 82 Test matches for India, scoring 4,931 runs in 140 innings, at an average of 38.52, including 12 centuries and a high score of 188, achieved against New Zealand at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore, India in October, 2016.

However, despite standing just 5’5″ tall, he is also a specialist slip fielder and has taken 99 catches in Test matches. His record-breaking tally of eight catches in a single match came in the first Test of the India tour of Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium in August, 2015. He took three catches in the first innings and five in the second but, even so, his efforts were in vain as India were skittled out for 112 – with left-arm spinner Rangana Herath taking 7-48 – in pursuit of a target of 176 in the second innings.

Nevertheless, Ramakrishnan Sridhar, former fielding coach of the Indian national team, later lavished praise on Rahane for his dedication to the art of slip fielding. He said, ‘Let’s make no bones about it – he works really hard at it. He takes hundreds of catches and he is very specific about where he wants them, what he wants to do, at what height he wants them, what he’s likely to get in the match.’

For the record, six fielders have taken seven catches in a Test match, the most recent of them being Indian opening batsmen Kannaur Lokesh (KL) Rahul, who did so during the third Test of the India tour of England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham in August, 2018.

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