Cricket is highly regarded as a game that mostly requires a batsman and a bowler. But people often forget that wicketkeeping is also an important position. The two most crucial skills of a wicketkeeper are remarkable agility and rapid reflexes.
Players like Mark Boucher, Adam Gilchrist have raised the bar of wicketkeeping in international cricket, that is close to 1000 dismissals. Let us have a look at the list of best wicketkeepers in the world.
Best Wicketkeeper in the World
| Player | Team | Matches | Total Dismissals | Catches | Stumpings |
| Mark Boucher | South Africa | 467 | 998 | 952 | 46 |
| Adam Gilchrist | Australia | 396 | 905 | 813 | 92 |
| MS Dhoni | India | 538 | 829 | 634 | 195 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 594 | 678 | 539 | 139 |
| Ian Healy | Australia | 287 | 628 | 560 | 68 |
| Quinton de Kock | South Africa | 289 | 550 | 506 | 44 |
| Rod Marsh | Australia | 188 | 479 | 463 | 16 |
| Brad Haddin | Australia | 226 | 474 | 449 | 25 |
| Jeff Dujon | West Indies | 250 | 474 | 448 | 26 |
| Denesh Ramdin | West Indies | 284 | 468 | 429 | 39 |
1. Mark Boucher | 998 Dismissals
Mark Boucher is considered as one of the best wicketkeepers in the world because of his 998 dismissals across 447 matches in international cricket.
He has played a part in 555 wickets from behind the stumps in 147 tests, 425 in 295 ODIs, and 19 in his short time match T20I career. This versatile player played for international cricket for 15 years but due to an unfortunate accident, he had to put a stop on his career. He injured his eye during a warm up game in 2012.
Along with the record for most dismissals as a wicketkeeper in international cricket, Boucher also leads the list of most number of catches, 952, out of which 532 were taken in Tests.
2. Adam Gilchrist | 905 Dismissals
Adam Gilchrist’s 416 dismissals in 96 Tests stands out as one of his top achievements in his 12 years of international career. He also has 489 dismissals to his name in white ball cricket which makes him the best wicketkeeper in Australia.
Gilchrist has also taken most catches 813, and the most catches, 92. He retired in 2008 as the leading wicketkeeper in Test cricket.
3. MS Dhoni | 829 Dismissals
MS Dhoni has the best reflexes which makes him the third best wicketkeeper in the list of best wicketkeeper. In his international career from 2004 to 2019, Dhoni has the record for 444 wickets were taken in ODIs, 91 in T20s, and 294 in Tests.
4. Kumar Sangakkara | 678 Dismissals
Kumar Sangakkara is a memorable name from Sri Lanka for taking 678 dismissals as a wicketkeeper. A cumulative of 151 in Tests, 482 in ODIs, and 45 in T20s is the highest from any player from Sri Lanka.
Sangakkara’s total of 383 catches and 99 stumpings is the highest number of dismissals from a keeper in ODIs. He is also the second keeper from his national team to have done three stumpings in a single ODI match.
5. Ian Healy | 628 Dismissals
Another Australian to find a place in the list of best wicketkeepers in the world is Ian Healy. He was the quickest to achieve 600 dismissals, doing so in fewer than 300 international matches.
As the preferred keeper of the Australian cricket team during the late 20th century, Healy finished with 395 dismissals in Tests and 233 in ODIs
The Aussie is also among the only wicket-keepers to have achieved three stumpings in an ODI match. Throughout his career spanning around 11 years, Healy achieved nearly two dismissals per Test innings.
6. Rodney Marsh | 479 Dismissals
Rodney Marsh was one of the most prominent wicket-keepers of the game during the 70’s and 80’s. He has played 96 tests and 92 ODI’s for Australia. He accounted for 479 dismissals in 188 International appearances which is might impressive.
7. Brad Haddin | 474 Dismissals
Brad Haddin was among the finest Australian wicket keepers along with Rodney Marsh, Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy.
He was a substitute for Adam Gilchrist in his early days of International Cricket. He played for 14 years during which he participated in 226 international games and was responsible for 474 dismissals.
8. Jeff Dujon | 474 Dismissals
Jeff Dujon is arguably the greatest wicket-keeper of West Indies Cricket. Dujon played at the time when the legendary West Indian pace battery was in action. He has made 474 career dismissals.
9. Quinton de Cock | 564 Dismissals
Quinton De-Cock is one of the greatest wicket keepers in modern-day Cricket and a very good attacking opener who plays for South Africa in T20s and ODI’s. De-Cock announced retirement from Test Cricket in 2021 to focus more on white ball cricket and his family.
Up to date, De-Cock has participated in 300 International games and was involved in 564 dismissals. It is the second largest of any South African Wicketkeeper following Mark Boucher.
He is also a class batsman having amassed a total of 12615 runs including Tests, ODIs and T20’s with 28 centuries.
10. Denesh Ramdin | 483 Dismissals
At the 10th spot of the best wicket keepers in Cricket, we have Denesh Ramdin who represented the West Indies from 2005-2019. In 15 years of his career, he has played 284 International games for West Indies and has taken 483 dismissals which is the record for most dismissals by a West Indies Wicketkeeper and is second on the list of top wicket keepers of West Indies behind the legendary Jeff Dujon.
Also Read:
