Wellington, Apr. 7 : Former Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid received the ball that helped him to become the world record holder for catches in test cricket.

When Dravid went low and forward to his left to catch Kiwi opener Tim McIntosh off Zaheer Khan he became the outright holder of the record on 182, one ahead of Australian slip ace Mark Waugh.

"We advised him to keep the ball," the Dominion Post quoted team-mate Yuvraj Singh, as saying.

Yuvraj said Dravid''s smart catch just before lunch at the Basin Reserve yesterday was typical of the great set of hands he possessed.

"He took a great catch to be the highest catcher in the world. He''s been there for more than 13 years now, he''s been outstanding as a batsman and in the slips cordon."

Dravid opened his account in his second test when he caught Nasser Hussain off the bowling of Javagal Srinath at Lord''s in 1996.

He is currently playing his 134th test and many of his catches have come standing at slip off the spinner. Waugh played 128 tests between 1991 and 2002 and was renowned for some spectacular efforts. (ANI)