Sports

Top 10 Best Wicket Keepers In The World: Dhoni TO Adam

Cricket has seen some of the best wicketkeepers in history, from Adam Gilchrist to MS Dhoni. We have compiled a list of the Top 10 Wicket Keepers in the World. Take a look at the full list right now.

In cricket, just like batting, bowling, and fielding, all three factors are important, and wicket-keeping is also an important factor. If we look at the history of cricket games, there have been a large number of wickets that were taken by a great wicket-keeper.

Also, there have been instances where the wicketkeeper got the game for the team. Also, the work of a wicketkeeper requires extreme awareness and speed. He can’t be slow or else he won’t get enough time for a stumping.

He should be attentive, focused, and quick as the balls bouncing behind the batsmen comes very quickly. Every team has to have a great wicketkeeper as a poor wicketkeeper might be the reason for the loss. We have listed out some of such keepers who were very great during their careers.

Best Wicket Keeper In The World

1. Adam Gilchrist

For the first position, we have another Australian captain, the legendary Adam Gilchrist. Out of 10 players on the list, there are four Australian players. Gilchrist is considered one of the greatest batsmen and wicketkeepers in the history of cricket. Adam Gilchrist holds the record for most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in One Day Internationals.

About Adam Gilchrist’s cricket history, he hit more than 15000 runs in international cricket with 32 centuries and 81 half-centuries. His highest-ever score is 204 runs not out in test cricket. About his dismissals, he had 416 dismissals in test cricket with 379 catches and 37 stumps while in ODI, he had 472 dismissals with 417 catches and 55 stumps.

He was the first player ever to hit more than 100 sixes in test cricket. He is one of the only three players who have won three World Cup titles in their life. Gilchrist won several awards for his stunning performances throughout his career.

Mark Boucher

Mark Boucher is a South African former cricket, the best wicket that the South African team ever got. About his wicket-keeping, Boucher achieved 555 dismissals in test cricket with 532 catches and 23 stumps. However, in ODI, he got 425 dismissals with 403 catches and 22 stumpings.

Mark Boucher holds the record for most catches in a Test by a wicketkeeper. He has also played for multiple teams in the Indian Premier League. He was the first person in the world to have achieved 400 dismissals in test cricket.

He had been awarded Player of Being Year Four three times in his career. He also holds the record for most dismissals as a wicket-keeper in all forms of the game which is 999. Talking about Mark Boucher’s batting skills, he scored more than 10000 runs in his international career along with 6 centuries and 61 half-centuries. His top score is 147 runs not out in One Day International.

Sadly, he retired in 2012 due to an eye injury. Since 2019, Boucher has been working as the head coach of the South Africa National Cricket team.

Jersey NumberMatchesTotal Test DismissalTotal ODI Dismissal9147 (Tests)
295 (ODIs)532 (Catches)
23 (Stumps)403 (Catches)
22 (Stumps)

3. Kumar Sangakkara

On the third place in the list, we have the Sri Lankan former Captain Kumar Sangakkara. Kumar Sangakkara holds the record of taking the most dismissals in ODI. Sangakkara is one of the greatest players in the world.

Talking about his batting records, Sangakkara holds one of the top three positions in all three formats of the game. He has hit more than 28000 runs in his career in all three formats combined with 63 centuries and 145 half-centuries.

His top score is 319 runs in test cricket. About his wicket-keeping, he achieved 202 dismissals in test cricket with 182 catches and 20 stumpings while in the ODI, he achieved 501 dismissals with 402 catches and 99 stumps.

He holds the record for most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in an ODI. He had also won the Cricketer of the Year award by ICC. He was also the man of the match in the 2014 World Cup which Sri Lanka won.

After Sangakkara got retired from cricket, he got into politics where he was the Ambassador of the Anti-Narcotics program in the country. Sangakkara received several awards in his career. He also holds many records even after so many years of his retirement. After his retirement, Sangakkara has also been a commentator for the Champions Trophy and Indian Premier League.

4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni

The former Indian captain, the legend MS Dhoni holds the fourth position in the list. Dhoni is considered one of the most successful captains in Indian cricket. He is also considered one of the most dangerous keepers in the Indian Premier League. Not only he was a brilliant wicketkeeper but he was an outstanding player too.

Dhoni was a brilliant finisher and a very good batsman. Dhoni’s journey to the Indian cricket team was not easy, he had to face many difficulties before he could get on the team. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, the Indian team won a large number of tournaments and series. The team won two ICC World Cups, two Asia Cups, and one ICC Champions trophy.

Dhoni has played around 538 international matches in his career in which he scored more than 17000 runs with 16 centuries and 106 half-centuries. His top score is 183 not out in ODI cricket.

About his wicket-keeping, he achieved 294 dismissals with 256 catches and 38 stumps in the test and 444 dismissals with 321 catches and 123 stumpings in the ODI.  Dhoni also leads the CSK team in the Indian Premier League.

He has been awarded the Indian army’s rank of Lieutenant Colonel. There are a plethora of records and achievements that Dhoni has made in his cricket career. He also holds the record for most catches in the test by a wicketkeeper.

There is a movie too made in his name in which his struggles and journey to the Indian cricket team are shown.

5. Ian Healy

We have the third Australian player in the 5th place on the list. It looks like Australian cricketers work hard on their wicket-keeping skills. Ian Healy who is also known as ‘Heals’ because of his stunning performance in his Test career, has the highest number of dismissals in Test cricket history.

He achieved 395 dismissals in test cricket with 366 catches and 29 stumping which is the highest number of test dismissals in the history of cricket. In the ODI, Healy got 233 dismissals in 168 matches with 194 catches and 39 stumps.

Other than that, he scored more than 5000 runs in his international career where he hit 4 centuries and 26 half-centuries. His top score is 161 not out in the test. He was also the captain of the Australian team for 8 One Day International matches when the captain Mark Taylor got injured.

Healy was added to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2008. After his retirement, he started a car washing business which he is currently running with a capacity of washing more than 50 cars per hour.

6. Jeff Dujon

The 6th position in the list is secured by the former West Indies keeper Jeff Dujon. In his career, he scored more than 5000 runs with five centuries and 22 half-centuries.

About his wicket-keeping, he achieved 272 dismissals in test cricket with 267 catches and 5 stumpings.

In the ODI, he got 204 dismissals with 183 catches and 21 stumpings. Jeff Dujon played 81 test matches for West Indies and he never lost a single one, they won all 81 matches. After his retirement in 1992, he was the assistant coach of the West Indies team where he trained young talents in Jamaica.

7. Moin Khan

Moin Khan is a former Pakistani batsman. he was there on the team for 14 years from  1990 to 2004. During his career of 14 years, he achieved 147 dismissals in just 69 test matches. He achieved 287 dismissals in his ODI career too. He also led the Pakistan team in several instances. He scored more than 6000 runs with 4 centuries and 27 half-centuries in his international career.

His top score in test cricket is 137 runs. When Moin was there in the team, Rashid Latif also there who used to be the wicketkeeper for the Pakistani team, several times, Latif was the wicketkeeper and achieved dismissals which could have got Moin Khan an upper place in the list. He also served as the Pakistani National Team’s coach in 2014.

8. Rod Marsh

On the 8 positions on the list, there is another Australian player Rodney William Marsh. Marsh set a world record when he got 355 wicket dismissals in just 96 test matches.

Though there are players who have achieved more dismissal than that, no one could get it in much less time. Rodney used to play in the early 70s to mid-80s where he achieved such a score.

Regarding his ODI dismissals, Marsh got 124 dismissals in 92 matches. About Marsh’s career, he scored around 5000 runs in his international career with 3 centuries and 20 half-centuries.

Marsh is also named one of the players in the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. After he retired from cricket, he used to be a commentator for around 10 years.

Also, he was the coach for the Australian Cricket Academy where he trained some great players like Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee. He was also the director of the England and Wales Cricket Board for 5 years. He also received many prestigious awards for his terrific career.

9. Brendon McCullum

The 9th place in the list is secured by the former captain of the New Zealand team, Brendon McCullum. McCullum has hit the fastest century in test cricket which he made in just 56 balls. Also, he is the only player who has hit two T20I 100s and 2000 runs in T20.

Also, McCullum has played for the IPL too, he was there in multiple seasons where he played for different teams. About his wicket-keeping career, he had achieved 179 dismissals in his test career out of which 168 were catches and 11 were from stumping. In his ODI career, he achieved 242 dismissals.

He is also the first-ever New Zealand player to hit a triple century in a test match as well as scoring more than 1000 runs in a single year in test cricket.

Unfortunately, in 2016, McCullum declared that he would be retiring from cricket. In his career’s last test match too, he hit 170 runs which is a record. For his terrific career, he received several awards and recognitions. Also, he served as the head coach of the team.

10. Brad Haddin

In the 10th place, we have the Australian former batsman Bradley James Haddin. James was not a full-time wicketkeeper, he was a backup for the Australian captain Adam Gilchrist so in case there comes a situation where Adam Gilchrist can’t play due to an injury or some other reason, Brad Haddin will fill his shoes.

We must say that Brad Haddin did prove his worth and that he could have been way more than just a backup wicketkeeper. Brad is the second wicketkeeper in the world who has scored five half-centuries in test cricket.

Brad was in his best form during the year 2007 to 2015 and in that period of 8 years, he achieved a lot. He achieved 270 dismissals in his test career.

Out of his 270 dismissals, 262 were catches, and 8 were stumpings. Also, in one of the test matches, he achieved 6 dismissals. Not only was he great in test cricket, but he did a great job in ODI cricket too. He achieved 181 dismissals in 126 ODI matches.

Top 5 cricket stumpings

1. MS Dhoni against Keemo Paul

Dhoni was one of the most successful wicketkeeper captains in the history of cricket. The ICC trophies are the ICC T-20 World Cup, the ICC ODI World Cup, and the ICC Champions Trophy.

It was the year 2018 During an ODI series between India and West Indies, the 4th ODI witnessed the quickest stumping in the world. The Indian former skipper made the record of stumping in just 0.8 seconds.

Since 2018, even though the captain has retired, no one has been able to break or equal Dhoni’s record. He had an exceptional dismissal rate of 1.286 in ODI cricket.

2. Ben Cox against Callum MacLeod

The unintentional dismissal of Callum MacLeod by wicketkeeper-batsman Bac Cox. It was the first ball of the over by Ed Barnard Callum tried to get a single by pushing toward the third man, but he missed, and the ball bounced back after striking the pad of Ben Cox and hit the stumps, becoming one of the fastest stumpings in cricket history. Before the batter knew it, he was coincidentally out.

3. MS Dhoni Against Shaun Marsh

It was in 2012, during the series between India and Australia. Kedar Jadhav was bowling bilaterally, and Shaun March was playing in the crease. Dhoni had already dropped a catch of Shaun March, so then on the first ball of the 24th over  March stepped out of the crease and missed the bowl, and Dhoni grabbed the bowl in his safe hand, further dislodged the bails, and sent Shaun Marsh back to the pavilion.

4. Mark Boucher against Marvan Atapattu

The world of cricket would never be able to witness another event like this. The presence of mind of Mark Boucher was in a different league in this match and, in the end, resulted in the wicket of Marvan Atapattu.

While appealing for the catch behind the wicket, the Sri Lankan player lost track of the ball and unintentionally moved out of the crease. He noticed that stumped him and continued appealing. Because of the amazing presence of mind, South Africa was able to secure the victory in the match.

5. Brendon McCullum against Ricky Ponting

Australia was chasing a small target of 207 runs and had an amazing start of 100 runs. But it seems that Tim Southee was troubling Ricky Pointing with his swing.

Seeing this, Brendon McCullum came near the wicket and Southee changed to around the wicket to block any room for Pointing. Southee swung a leg-side wide.

Pointing tried to flick but missed the ball, which instead moved out of the crease. McCullum caught the ball and bailed out the stumps, which was also one of the fastest stumpings in cricket history.

Some Of The Best Wicketkeepers In India Currently

1. Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik was another unlucky cricketer of his time as his career clashed directly with that of Dhoni. The Tamilnadu wicketkeeper received only a handful of chances at the international level, playing 54 matches for India as a keeper.

Karthik grabbed 107 dismissals in 70 innings he kept wickets in, with 91 catches and 16 stumpings. Karthik became the casualty of India’s semi-final loss in the 2019 World Cup.

2. Ishan Kishan

Next on the list is Indian player Ishan Kishan. Kishan is a very good wicketkeeper from India. We have seen his wicket-keeping skills in the IPL. He has achieved 247 dismissals in his career so far.

He has potential and hopefully, we might see him wicket-keeping for the India team too.

3. Sanju Samson

In the third place, we have the stalwart from Rajasthan. Sanju is one of the most popular players in India. He is a very good batsman and a brilliant wicketkeeper too.

Since Sanju Samson came to the Rajasthan Royals, he’s been performing very well consistently. His performance is the reason he was captain of RR this season. He has achieved 299 dismissals so far in his career.

4. Rishabh Pant

One of the highly talented young players, Rishabh Pant has shown some great performances in the past couple of tournaments, especially in the Indian Premier League.

He is one of the best wicketkeepers in test cricket. He has high potential and if he works hard, he can also achieve greatness. About his wicket-keeping numbers, he got 265 dismissals in his career.

5. KL Rahul

One of the rising stars of the Indian cricket team, Rahul has huge potential. Though Rahul has not had some historical performances in the Indian cricket team, he did play outstandingly in the IPL. He has got 167 dismissals so far in his career.

So, which one of the above Indian players should be the next wicketkeeper for the Indian team?

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