Guide

Most Catches by Wicketkeepers in International Cricket: Top 15 List

Wicketkeepers play an important role in cricket as their role becomes more of an all-rounder. Here is the list of most catches in international cricket by wicketkeepers.

Dillip Mohanty
Dillip Mohanty

Last Updated: 2024-01-26

Umaima Saeed

5 minutes read

The wicketkeeper is one of the most important positions on a cricket field. The keeper is in a perfect position to assess the field, the conditions of the pitch and stay right in the game. The keeper’s pair of hands are considered the safest on the field as most of the balls carry into their gloves. We have witnessed several brilliant wicketkeepers in the history of the game and we will look into the most catches by a wicket-keeper in international cricket.

most catches in international cricket

by wicket keepers

PLAYERMATCHESTOTAL CATCHESTEST CATCHESODI CATCHEST20I CATCHES
MARK BOUCHER (SA)46695253240218
ADAM GILCHRIST (AUS)39181337941717
MS DHONI (IND)53863425632157
IAN HEALY (AUS)287560366194-
KUMAR SANGAKKARA (SL)46453212438325
QUINTON DE KOCK (SA)28550622120976
ROD MARSH (AUS)188463343120-
BRAD HADDIN (AUS)21444926217017
JEFF DUJON (WI)246448265183-
DENESH RAMDIN (WI)28442920518143
BRENDON McCULLUM (NZ)27841816722724
JOS BUTTLER (ENG)31341213022161
ALEC STEWART (ENG)220375227148-
KAMRAN AKMAL (PAK)26036818415628
RIDLEY JACOBS (WI)212367207160-
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Mark Boucher

Mark Boucher Wicket Keeping in Test.jpeg

Former South African stalwart Mark Boucher has the most number of catches in international cricket to his name with 952 scalps behind the stumps in 466 matches. Boucher featured in 147 Tests, 295 ODIs and 25 T20Is for his country and also featured for Africa XI and ICC World XI.

Adam Gilchrist

Legendary wicketkeeper batter Adam Gilchrist makes the 2nd rank in the list with 813 overall catches as a wicketkeeper across the three formats of the game. The 2-time ODI World Cup champion also has over 15000 runs in international cricket making him an all-time great.

MS Dhoni

India’s most successful wicketkeeper and one of the most successful captains in all three formats MS Dhoni is placed at the third position with 634 catches across formats. He has taken 321 catches in ODIs, 256 in Tests and 57 in T20 internationals having scored 17266 runs. Dhoni is known as one of the best keepers for his unorthodox style and ability to read the conditions and match situations accordingly and help the team to victory. The Indian team became the number 1 Test nation, won the ODI World Cup in 2011 and also the inaugural World T20 under his leadership amongst other laurels.

Ian Healy

Ian Healy is considered as one of the finest Australian wicketkeepers representing the nation from 1988-1999. In 287 international matches, he took 560 catches scoring over 5000 runs for the team. He was well known for forming a pair with Shane Warne who went on to become the world’s finest leg spinner.

Kumar Sangakkara

Kumar Sangakkara ODI Fielding.jpeg

One of Sri Lanka’s greatest cricketers, Kumar Sangakkara took 532 catches playing as a wicketkeeper in his 15-year-long international career. He also has the distinction of scoring more than 28000 runs in international cricket making him one of the greatest wicketkeeper batters to ever play the sport. He played a key role in Sri Lanka becoming the 2014 World T20 champion and hit 4 back-to-back centuries in the 2015 ODI World Cup.

Quinton de Kock

A modern-time great, Quinton de Kock made his debut as a 20-year-old wicketkeeper replacing AB de Villiers in the playing XI and soon helped ABD relieve from the keeping duties with his compact technique and ability to score runs in all situations. De Kock featured in 54 Tests scoring 3300 runs and taking 221 catches before retiring early. He played 155 ODIs scoring over 6000 runs and taking 209 wickets before calling it a day from the 50-over format as well after the 2023 ODI World Cup. He continues to be an important member of the Proteas 20-over side and has the world record of taking the most number of catches in the format.

Rod Marsh

One of the best wicketkeepers to play for Australia, Marsh had the world record of 355 keeping dismissals when he finished his international career in 1984. Just like Healy and Warne, Marsh had formed a pair with Dennis Lillee, one of the fastest bowlers to ever play the game.

Brad Haddin

The Australian side was fortunate to have a big line of brilliant wicketkeepers with Brad Haddin stepping in after the retirement of Adam Gilchrist who was a successor of Rod Marsh and Ian Healy respectively. Making his Test debut at the age of 30, Haddin featured in 66 matches in the format taking 262 catches and scoring over 3000 runs. He was also part of the 2015 ODI World Cup-winning Australian squad and has 170 catches to his name in the format.

Jeff Dujon

Known for its fearsome fast bowling attack in the 80s and early 90s, West Indies had a perfect man for the keeping job in the form of Jeff Dujon. He was brilliant behind the stumps and in front as well scoring over 5000 runs across two formats featuring in 246 matches for the Windies.

Denesh Ramdin

Starting as a 19-year-old in the West Indies set-up, Denesh Ramdin soon became the first-choice wicketkeeper in all formats for the side. He featured as a keeper in the team’s first-ever T20 international and was also part of the T20 World Cup-winning sides in 2012 and 2016 taking 43 catches in the format. His 205 catches in Tests and 181 catches in ODIs make him the 2nd most successful keeper for West Indies after Dujon.

Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum Wicket Keeping in Test.jpeg

 

The hard-hitting wicketkeeper batter played 278 matches for New Zealand finishing with 418 catches behind the stumps. A vital cog for New Zealand in all three formats, he gave up wicketkeeping from the longest format in 2013. Known as a brilliant leader, McCullum led the Kiwi team to the final of the 2015 ODI World Cup and became the first-ever Blackcaps player to feature in 100 consecutive Tests.

Jos Buttler

One of the more consistent players across formats for England, Jos Buttler was part of the 2019 ODI World Cup winning squad and has been a primary wicketkeeper in the white ball formats for England also leading the side. The English side won their 2nd T20 World cup title under his captaincy. In 313 international matches, Buttler has snaffled 412 catches in his gloves. In 2013, he became the 5th keeper in the world to take 6 catches in a single ODI innings achieving the feat against South Africa at The Oval during the ICC Champions Trophy.

Alec Stewart

The former England captain featured in 220 international games for England taking 375 catches behind the stumps. Known as an excellent batter, he scored 13,140 runs for England across the two formats he played hitting 19 centuries in total. He has the England record of scoring the most runs as a designated wicketkeeper in a Test series as he hit 465 runs against South Africa in the 1998 home series.

Kamran Akmal

Taking over the keeping role from Rashid Latif and Moin Khan, Kamran cemented his place as a brilliant stroke player. His keeping was overshadowed by his batting and after a promising start to his career, the keeping faded away with lots of fumbles and dropped chances behind the stumps but still, he makes his name as the Pakistani keeper with the most number of catches in international cricket as he took 368 grabs in 260 matches.

Ridley Jacobs

A fine wicketkeeper and a left-handed batsman, Ridley Jacobs featured in 65 Tests and 147 one-day internationals for West Indies taking 367 catches in the 2 formats. His best day in the office was during the Boxing Day Test against Australia in 2000 when he became only the fourth wicketkeeper to take 7 catches in an innings. He also became the first player in the world to score a half-century and take 5 dismissals as a keeper in an ODI achieving it against New Zealand during the 1999 ODI World Cup.

Dillip Mohanty
Dillip MohantySports Editor

Dillip has over two decades of experience in creating sports content. As the Sports Editor of SportsBoom, Dillip brings in a wealth of experience and expertise to the role. Dillip has worked with leading sports broadcasters and sports web content portals in Asia. He is an adept storyteller and has a special liking for data stories. He has a keen interest in data analysis and uncovering insights from large datasets. He loves to tell the story with rich and compelling data visualisation.