Who is the Best Wicket Keeper in the World

“Who is the best wicketkeeper in the world?” The answer can vary depending on the criteria. For instance, if we consider total career dismissals, Mark Boucher takes the top spot. On the other hand, if we talk about wicketkeepers who made the most significant impact with the bat, then the honour goes to Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.

However, if you look at wicketkeepers who had a high number of dismissals and a glorious overall career—both as a player and a leader—one name that comes to everyone’s mind is MS Dhoni. So who is it? Read to find out.

Who is the Best Wicket Keeper in the World of All Time—Top 10

Rank	Player	National Team	Matches (Innings)	Total Dismissals	Catches	Stumpings	Dis/Inn Ratio
1	Mark Boucher	Afr/SA	467 (596)	998	952	46	1.674
2	Adam Gilchrist	AUS	396 (485)	905	813	92	1.865
3	MS Dhoni	IND	538 (608)	829	634	195	1.363
4	K Sangakkara	SL	594 (499)	678	539	139	1.358
5	Ian Healy	AUS	287 (392)	628	560	68	1.602
6	Q de Kock	SA	301 (337)	560	514	46	1.661
7	R Marsh	AUS	188 (274)	479	463	16	1.748
8	Jos Buttler	ENG	384 (357)	475	421	54	1.33
9	Brad Haddin	AUS	226 (274)	474	449	25	1.729
10	PJL Dujon	WI	250 (316)	474	448	26	1.5

Mark Boucher (Most Dismissals of All Time)

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	1997–2012	147	281	555	532	23
ODI	1998–2011	295	290	424	402	22
T20I	2005–2010	25	25	19	18	1

Mark Boucher is a legendary wicketkeeper from South Africa. He played 147 Tests, 295 ODIs, and 25 T20Is from 1997 to 2012. He has the most dismissals in cricket history—998 in total, with 952 catches and 46 stumpings. As a batsman, he scored over 5,500 runs in Tests and over 4,600 runs in ODIs. As a keeper, his reflexes behind the stumps were very sharp. During Boucher’s World Cup debut, he bagged the record for the most World Cup dismissals.

Adam Gilchrist

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	1999–2008	96	191	416	379	37
ODI	1996–2008	287	281	472	417	55
T20I	2005–2008	13	13	17	17	0

Adam Gilchrist is one of the best Australian wicket keepers of all time. He was also a popular explosive opening batsman for Australia in limited overs cricket. He played 96 Tests, 287 ODIs, and 13 T20Is between 1996 and 2008. He made 905 dismissals, including 813 catches and 92 stumpings. With the bat, he scored 5,570 runs in Tests and 9,619 runs in ODIs. He played a major part in Australia’s World Cup wins in 1999, 2003, and 2007, both as keeper and batter.

MS Dhoni (Most Stumpings of All Time)

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	2005–2014	90	166	294	256	38
ODI	2004–2019	350	345	444	321	123
T20I	2006–2019	98	97	91	57	34

MS Dhoni is one of India’s most successful captains and wicketkeepers. He played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs, and 98 T20Is between 2004 and 2019. He has 829 dismissals, including 634 catches and 195 stumpings—the most stumpings ever by a keeper in international cricket. Dhoni scored 10,773 runs in ODIs. He was the best finisher of his time. He led India to win the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup, and 2013 Champions Trophy.

Kumar Sangakkara

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	2000–2015	134	90	151	131	20
ODI	2000–2015	404	353	482	383	99
T20I	2006–2014	56	56	45	25	20

Kumar Sangakkara is a renowned wicketkeeper and top-order batsman for Sri Lanka. He played 134 Tests, 404 ODIs, and 56 T20Is from 2000 to 2015. He made 678 dismissals in total. This includes 539 catches and 139 stumpings. His glove work was neat and very clean. Sanga was very sharp behind the wicket. Sangakkara, the batter, scored 12,400 Test runs and 14,234 ODI runs. His overall run tally is 28,016 across formats. This makes him the second-highest run-scorer in world cricket.

Ian Healy

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	1988–1999	119	224	395	366	29
ODI	1988–1997	168	168	233	194	39
T20I	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

Ian Haely is one of the top five wicket keepers of all time. He played 119 Tests and 168 ODIs for Australia between 1988 and 1999. He made 628 international dismissals—560 catches and 68 stumpings. The fact that he never played T20s and is still among the top five justifies how great of a wicketkeeper he actually was. As a batsman, Ian was magnificent. He has scored over 4,000 runs in Tests and 1,700 runs in ODIs.

Quinton de Kock

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	2014–2021	54	98	232	221	11
ODI	2013–2023	155	148	226	209	17
T20I	2012–2024	92	91	102	84	18

South African cricketers are known for brilliance in the outfield. Quinton de Kock continued this legacy as wicketkeeper. He played 54 Tests, 155 ODIs, and 92 T20Is between 2012 and 2024. He has 560 dismissals in total (514 catches and 46 stumpings). In fact, he is the first wicketkeeper to get more than 100 dismissals in T20Is. De Kock is also considered among the greatest batsmen of this generation. He has scored 6,721 runs in ODIs and over 3,000 runs in Tests.

Rodney Marsh

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	1970–1984	96	182	355	343	12
ODI	1971–1984	92	92	124	120	4
T20I	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

Rodney Marsh was a wicketkeeper for Australia in the 1970s and early 1980s. He played 96 Tests and 92 ODIs from 1970 to 1984. He made 479 dismissals—463 catches and 16 stumpings. Marsh scored 3,633 runs in Tests, including three centuries. He was one of the first Australian keepers who made a big impact with the bat. Marsh is, to date, one of the most respectful wicketkeepers in the history of the circuit.

Jos Buttler

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	2014–2022	57	70	131	130	1
ODI	2012–2025	190	179	261	223	38
T20I	2011–2025	137	108	83	68	15

Jos Buttler is an English wicket keeper batsman. He is the former captain of the England team. He led England to win the 2022 T20 World Cup. Butler has played 57 Tests, 190 ODIs, and 137 T20Is. So far, he has 475 dismissals—421 catches and 54 stumpings. He is also a powerful batsman. He has scored more than 4,800 runs in ODIs and over 3,000 runs in T20Is. Buttler is known for his big hits and match winning capabilities. He led England to win the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Brad Haddin

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	2008–2015	66	128	270	262	8
ODI	2001–2015	126	115	181	170	11
T20I	2006–2014	34	31	23	17	6

Brad Haddin played for Australia as a wicketkeeper and middle-order batsman. He appeared in 66 Tests, 126 ODIs, and 34 T20Is between 2001 and 2015. In his career, he had a total of 474 dismissals to his name. Among them, 449 were catches and 25 were stumpings. Haddin scored 3,266 runs in Tests and over 1,800 in ODIs. He was part of the famous Australian team that won the 2015 World Cup.

Jeff Dujon

Format	Span	Mat	Inns	Dismissals	Ct	St
Test	1981–1991	81	150	270	265	5
ODI	1981–1991	169	166	204	183	21
T20I	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

Jeff Dujon was the wicketkeeper for the West Indies during their golden years. He played 81 Tests and 169 ODIs between 1981 and 1991. He made 474 dismissals—448 catches and 26 stumpings. Dujon also scored 3,322 runs in Tests and over 1,900 in ODIs. He kept wickets to some of the fastest bowlers ever, like Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner. Still, his keeping skills were smooth, and he rarely made mistakes. Jeff had a great World Cup career as well.

Who is Best Wicket Keeper in the World—Tests

Regarding Test cricket, former South African gloveman Mark Boucher is still cherished as one of the best wicketkeepers of all time. Mark represented South Africa in 147 Test matches. In these games, he dismissed opposition batters 555 times. These include 532 catches and 23 stumpings. He holds a dismissals-per-innings (Dis/Inn) ratio of 1.975.

Regarding the Dis/Inn ratio, Australian cricket legend Adam Gilchrist ranks at the top. With 416 test dismissals in 191 innings, he has an impressive Dis/Inn ratio of 2.178.

Who is the Best Wicket Keeper in World—ODIs

Sri Lankan wicketkeeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara ranks number one on the list of top WKs in ODI cricket. Between 2000 and 2015, he played 404 matches and kept wickets in 353 innings. With 383 catches and 99 stumpings, Sangakkara recorded 482 ODI dismissals.

Sangakkara’s dismissals-per-innings (Dis/Inn) ratio stands at 1.365. His highest number of dismissals in a single innings is six.

Who is the Best Wicket Keeper in the World in Cricket—T20Is

In T20 international cricket, Quinton de Kock is the best wicketkeeper. Before retiring, he represented South Africa in 92 T20 matches. He recorded 84 catches and 18 stumpings in those games, taking his total dismissal tally to 102. In fact, as of today, de Kock is the first wicketkeeper to complete 100+ dismissals in T20 international cricket. Other great T20 wicketkeepers include MS Dhoni and Jos Butler.

Who is the Best Wicket Keeper Batsman in the World

The game of cricket has seen several great wicketkeepers who, besides being outstanding behind the stumps, were equally good—or even better with the bat. In fact, among the top ten wicketkeepers we’ve just discussed, three of them have scored more than 15,000 runs across formats. These include Kumar Sangakkara, MS Dhoni, and Adam Gilchrist.

Of them all, Kumar Sangakkara stands out as the best wicketkeeper batsman of all time. Sangakkara has scored 28,016 runs across all three formats and currently ranks second among the all-time highest run scorers. He has 63 centuries and 153 half-centuries to his name. MS Dhoni has scored 17,266 runs, while Gilchrist has scored 15,461 runs in his career.

Final Words

After reading this article, you sure know who the best keeper is and in what respect. We are sure you have also figured out who the top keeper is in today’s time. This means you are ready to bet on Indian Premier League (IPL) and international cricket. During the fixture, back the top wicketkeeper playing the match, and who knows, you might end up winning big, too.

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FAQs

Who is the best cricket wicket keeper in the world?

Mark Boucher is the best cricket wicket keeper in the world. Across Tests, ODIs, and T20Is combined, he has 998 dismissals, which include 952 catches and 46 stumpings.

Who is the best wicket keeper in the world in cricket history?

Mark Boucher is the best wicket keeper in the world in cricket history While playing for South Africa, Mark has 998 dismissals in his international career.

Who is the second best wicket keeper in the world?

Adam Gilchrist of Australia is the second best wicket keeper in the world. He has a total of 905 dismissals, which include 813 catches and 92 stumpings. Gilchrist averaged 1.865 dismissals per innings all throughout his career.

Who is the third best wicket keeper in the world?

India’s captain cool, MS Dhoni, is regarded as the third best wicket keeper in the world. In terms of number of dismissals, MS has 634 catches and 195 stumpings in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is combined.

Who is the current best wicket keeper in the world?

Among active players, Jos Butler is the current best wicket keeper in the world. He has 261 dismissals in ODIs and 83 dismissals in T20Is.

Who is the best wicket keeper in the world currently?

Jos Butler of England is the best wicket keeper in the world currently.