Without an appropriate wicketkeeper, even the best defensive unit, rock-solid batting lineup, and massively loaded pace battery would fall short. In the contemporary game, getting into the keeping slot is quite challenging if you don’t have fantastic skill with the willow in your hand. As we have analyzed in cricket match videos many times, a keeper must now play both the keeper and batter positions with similar elegance and agility.
For any nation, such an athlete is a rare commodity. To a layperson, it appears to be the most challenging thing in the world to gather balls bowled at 145 kilometers per hour for two days in the scorching heat. However, several keepers excel at it. You can check the check t20 match highlights to have a clear idea about the performances of the below-mentioned players.
1. Adam Gilchrist (Australia)-
There are no guesses or counterarguments for the coveted top slot. Adam Gilchrist is the one and only person who deserves it. He is often called “Gilly”. Gilly is regarded as one of, if not the most destructive batsman of all time, with strike rates of 81.98 in Tests, 96.94 in ODIs, and 141 in T20Is. With his breathtaking batsman ship and deft handling behind the stumps, he propelled Australia to several victories across all forms.
Aside from combating the illusions of the magician dubbed Warne, Gilchrist had to maintain one of the most lethal pace batteries, composed of McGrath, Lee, and Gillespie. In Tests and ODIs, he averaged 47.60 and 35.89, respectively. He served as Australia’s vice-captain in all formats, leading the team when the regular captains were away.
With 417 catches and 55 stumpings, Gilchrist is second among keepers for most ODI dismissals. With 379 catches and 37 stumping in the lengthier format, he is one spot behind Mark Boucher in Test cricket and total international cricket.
2. Mark Boucher (South Africa)-
A spectacular career ended on July 9, 2012, due to a significant eye injury. The traditional wicketkeeper-batsman of the previous generation, Mark Boucher, was maybe the last of his kind.
Boucher was the international goalkeeper with the most dismissals (998) and is regarded as one of, if not the best, goalkeeper of all time. And if it weren’t for the severe eye injury that ended his career, he would have been the first gloveman to have 1,000 international match dismissals.
A total of 444 dismissals were made by Boucher in the shorter forms, including 424 in ODIs (second only to Sangakkara and Adam Gilchrist), 19 in T20Is, and 555 in Tests, the most of any player to date. He may not have had a tremendous average in both forms, but his worth to the squad as a crisis batsman was unmatched.
In his whole ODI career, Boucher only managed to achieve one hundred. Still, that one shocked everyone since it was the second-fastest ODI century ever, coming off just 44 balls! In the arduous 434-run chase against Australia in 2006, he led South Africa, capping the game with a lovely boundary and compiling one of the greatest and most nerve-wracking half-centuries ever.
3. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)-
Kumar Sangakkara, one of his time’s most educated and refined players in cricket history, is perhaps the finest wicketkeeper-batsman in modern cricket. The Sri Lankan averages a remarkable 58 in Test cricket and stellar 41.98 in one-day internationals. In ODIs, he has amassed more than 14,000 runs.
Sangakkara grabbed 178 catches behind the wickets and produced 20 stumping before quitting as a keeper after saying farewell to glove work in Tests.
He has 482 dismissals all-time in ODIs thanks to 383 catches and a world record of 99 stumpings (the highest number ever). He is a cricketer of his generation who is well-known and who serves as an excellent example for young people, both in terms of his batting and his fielding.
4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)-
MS Dhoni, the captain of India who won the World Cup, is perhaps the best keeper-batsman India has ever had in history. Three tasks, one person: batting, keeping, and captaining, he had it all. Nevertheless, he affects 244 catches and 85 stumping in 262 ODIs, averaging above 52.
His white average of 38 could be viewed as a touch below average. Still, despite playing on essentially turning sub-continental wickets, he handled 256 catches and had a hand in 38 stumpings.
Dhoni still holds the record for the highest ODI wicketkeeper score, with a score of 183* against Sri Lanka. He has been praised equally for his leadership and hitting and glove work. The single weakness in his arsenal is his batting in Test matches. Since he left the format last year, he won’t have the opportunity to improve on it.
Nevertheless, Dhoni is a definite modern cricket great and well merits a spot on the top list.
5. Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)-
A batter from a minor league team, but one with more class and compassion than the major leaguers. Yes, Andy Flower, a distinguished veteran from Zimbabwe, demonstrated that his exceptional batting abilities were no accident and that he possessed a very high level of batsman ship, much like any other legend of his day.
Flower led a team that was only anticipated to achieve respectable losses if anything at all. Many things occurred as predicted. However, his career-long personal performance is admirable.
In the 63 Test matches he participated in, he averaged 51.54 and amassed over 6,000 runs in ODIs. His 540 runs against India during the Test series in India in 2000, which attests to his brilliance, was one of his career-high points.
Even if his fielding was at most passable, he still managed to grab around 150 catches behind the wickets in both formats and contributed to over 30 stumping in Test Cricket.
One of the most crucial roles in cricket is that of the wicketkeeper. A wicketkeeper may stump the batsman while protecting byes and taking catches. However, they can also help advise them on where to play. They have an advantage in spotting things since they are so near the batsman. These were the most significant wicket keepers in history.
Checkout our videos to get the latest updates about cricket and betting tips, and casino
tips to win big with expert opinions at https://www.cbtfmytube.com/.
CBTF BETTING
Know all about cricket betting and updates at CBTF betting. Get the updated expert betting tips at https://cricketbettingtipsfree.com/
CBTF NEWS
Know all about cricket news and updates at CBTF news. Get the fastest cricket news update at https://cbtfspeednews.com/.
