Ranking the top 10 wicketkeeper-batsmen of all time

4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)

MS Dhoni

India’s World Cup winning captain MS Dhoni is arguably the greatest keeper-batsman India has ever had. Batting, keeping, captaining: three jobs, one person. Yet, he averages over 52 from 262 ODIs apart from affecting 244 catches and 85 stumpings in the format.

In the whites, his average might be considered a little below par at 38, but he still gloved 256 catches and affected 38 stumpings on mostly turning wickets in the sub-continent.

Dhoni’s score of 183* against Sri Lanka is still a world record for the highest ever score by a wicket-keeper in ODIs. He has received as much acclaim for his captaincy, as for his batting and glove-work. The only chunk in his armory, though, is his batting in the Test matches, and after his retirement from the format last year, he won’t have any chance to address that.

Nevertheless, Dhoni is a certified modern great of cricket, and he fully deserves a place in the top 5 of this list.

3. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

Kumar Sangakkara

One of the most sophisticated and classy batsmen of his era, Kumar Sangakkara is perhaps the best keeper-batsman in the current cricketing world. The Sri Lankan averages a magical 58 in the Test format to go with an impressive 41.98 in ODIs. He has garnered over 14,000 runs in ODIs.

Having bidden goodbye to the glovework in Tests, Sangakkara took 178 catches behind the wickets and affected 20 stumpings prior to giving up as keeper.

In ODIs, he has affected a world record 99 stumpings (highest ever) and gloved 383 catches for the all-time record total of 482 dismissals. He is a widely celebrated cricketer of his generation and a perfect role model for youngsters, as much for his batting, as for his keeping.