Best T20 Wicketkeeper-Captain: Dhoni, Buttler, Sangakkara

SB Market Index: How We Evaluate the Best T20 Wicket

Evaluating the best T20 wicketkeeper-captain wasn’t done in a vacuum. We aligned two key roles (batting and keeping) with expert media insights to provide a comprehensive ranking known as the ‘SB Market Index’. This custom-built model rating system ensured results were fair and transparent, meaning they weren’t skewed by single-source opinions

MS Dhoni: The Definitive T20 Wicketkeeper-Captain

Although he doesn’t feature in our list of best T20 batters of all time, MS Dhoni’s T20 stats suggest otherwise. A batting average of 37.60 speaks with a superb strike rate for itself, but he is one of the best wicketkeepers in the world. Dhoni is renowned for his razor-sharp reactions and he is responsible for some of the fastest stumpings in cricket history.

Moreover, Dhoni has always been measured in his approach, and he has acted as a brilliant mentor to aspiring T20 cricketers, ushering them onto the global stage. He has undoubtedly been one of India’s most successful T20 captains. With multiple ICC trophies to his name, Dhoni has been instrumental, and he remains revered, based on his exceptional ‘SB Score’ (best keeper and near-best batting in our model) as well as delivering the highest Industry Insights Score.

Jos Buttler: The Modern Era’s Standard Bearer

While Jos Buttler came second in our ranking, the MS Dhoni vs Jos Buttler captaincy debate has often been framed in the ODI context. Nevertheless, Buttler is perhaps more of an innovator, both in terms of his leadership style, and his approach to batting.

As one of the most prolific T20 scorers in World Cup history, Buttler’s strategic thinking often inspired England to victory, and he often performed marvels with the bat. Jos Buttler’s captaincy record was stellar, and he scored highest for the batting sub-score. His excellent ‘Industry Insights’ score cemented his place as an elite keeper-batsman.

The Legends and Specialists: Sangakkara, Edwards, and Sarfaraz

While he was widely perceived as one of the most elegant southpaw batters in Test cricket, Kumar Sangakkara’s T20 record illustrated he was also highly proficient in the shortest form of the game. Yes, T20 cricket leadership often brought the best out of Sangakkara, and his stats never really wavered. Some of his cheeky remarks behind the stumps also scrambled batsmen, but Sangakkara’s showing in our ranking was respectable, with a decent ‘SB Score’ and ‘Industry Insights’ score.

Scott Edwards was more of a self-made cricketer, and along with Sarfaraz Ahmed, our model gave credence to their batting stats, but their rankings were lowered by the more lukewarm reactions provided by the industry experts.