When it comes down to naming the best wicketkeeper in Cricket
history, many would name Adam Gilchrist. Undoubtedly, with the gloves on, no
one can really outmatch the real of charm of Adam Gilchrist. However, continuing
to perform remarkably as wicketkeeper, batsman and captain, MS Dhoni has
emerged to be a name that people are drawing comparisons with Adam Gilchrist. While
comparing these two is simply absurd, but as cricket fans, we cannot help but go
ahead anyway.
Dhoni idolize Gilchrist, considering him his role model in his early
days. And on multiple occasions, Gilchrist too has praised Dhoni- “He’s (Dhoni)
very effective and street-smart. I think he’s the quickest stumper that I’ve
ever seen. You can have a perfect textbook technique and miss a stumping
because you’re a bit slow”.
What defines a good Wicketkeeper? It’s the number of
dismissals—Stumpings and catches. Now let’s see…
ODI: Dhoni (Catches- 263; Stumpings- 89 ) | Gilchrist (Catches- 417;
Stumpings- 55 )
TEST: Dhoni (Catches- 256; Stumpings- 38 ) | Gilchrist (Catches- 379;
Stumpings- 37 )
When you total the stumpings and catches of both Test and ODIs, Gilchrist
wins hands-down.
Even as batsman, they were both remarkable, one better than the
other in different departments (Average, Strike Rate, Most Sixes, More Run, and
so forth). But this discussion is for another time.
