Introduction
The role of wicketkeeper in a cricket team is a unique one because they must be ready to take a catch, stump an opposing batter, or run them out as the occasion demands, as well as their primary function of stopping runs. In addition, many of them are highly prized for their batting ability as well. But who has the most dismissals to their name in all three formats of the game?
Tests
Mark Boucher of South Africa is the most successful in the history of test cricket. In 147 matches, he finished his career with 555 dismissals, comprising 532 catches and 23 stumpings.
He is some way ahead of the second man on the list, the Australian Adam Gilchrist. His own career saw him claim 416 test victims made up of 379 catches and 37 stumpings, although he was a much better batter than Boucher and is fourth on the all-time list of fastest test centuries.
Two more Australian also feature.
Ian Healy played 119 matches for his country during which time he claimed 395 victims, 366 of which were catches and 29 of them stumpings.
That is 40 more than Rod Marsh finished with, although he played in significantly fewer matches, his 355 victims were comprised of 343 catches and a further 12 stumpings.
The only Indian player to feature on the list is former captain MS Dhoni, who is still going strong for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian T20 league. His test haul was 294 dismissals of which 256 were catches and 38 were stumpings.
ODIs
Kumar Sangakarra has the distinction of being not only the second highest run scorer in ODI history but he holds the record for the most dismissals as well. In 404 matches between 2000 and 2015 he claimed 482 dismissals, 383 of them being catches and the remainders stumping.
He finished his career with ten more victims than Adam Gilchrist, whose tally of 472 was made up of 417 catches and 55 stumpings.
MS Dhoni has more stumpings in international cricket than anybody else. He took 123 in ODIs to go alongside his 34 IN T20I cricket and 38 in test matches. He also took 321 ODI catches.
Mark Boucher also features on this list, although this time he has to settle for fourth place. He claimed 424 dismissals in his ODI career, which was made up of 402 catches and a further 22 stumpings.
Rounding out the top five is Moin Khan of Pakistan, who ended with 214 catches and 73 stumpings against his name in ODI cricket.
Among those still playing the game, Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh may yet overhaul Khan’s total. He currently has 252 ODI victims to his credit.
T20Is
Due to the sheer volume of T20i cricket that is being played these days, especially in a World Cup year, records in this category are the most transient.
Nevertheless MS Dhoni, who played his last match for India back in 2019, is currently out on his own and should be confident of maintaining his pre-eminence for some time to come. In 98 matches, he claimed 91 dismissals, with 57 of them being catches and 34 stumpings.
Quinton de Kock of South African seems the best placed to catch him at present given that he is still playing, although he has some way to go yet. To date, he has 77 dismissals to his name, 15 of them being stumpings, the balance catches.
Denesh Ramdin is currently third on the all-time list, although having retired from T20I cricket in the same year as Dhoni, he will not be adding to his final total of 63 victims – 43 catches and 20 stumpings.
In fact, he may soon slip down to fourth on the list because Mushfiqur Rahim is just two behind him and is almost certain to play for his country in the World Cup later this year.
Completing the top five at present is Kamran Akmal of Pakistan, who claimed 60 T20I dismissals between 2006 and 2017.
Jos Buttler who was named England’s white ball captain in June following the retirement from international cricket of Eoin Morgan, may be eying his total, having already accumulated 54 dismissals in his T20I career.
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