Wicketkeepers have a different aura & importance in cricket compared to other fielders of a team. They have to do the double task of managing their batting performance and looking and acting as the most attentive fielder while they stay behind the wicket. Indian Premier League has witnessed flamboyant wicket keepers like Adam Gilchrist, Kumar Sangakkara, Mark Boucher & the kingpin, MS Dhoni. MS has been the most successful wiki in the history of the Indian Premier League, and he holds the record of fastest stumping in just 0.08sec. In the context of World cricket, he is the most electrifying man behind the wickets. He always has that edge of collecting the ball very close to the off-pole, as many wikis find it tough to execute.
Adam Gilchrist & Kumar Sangakkara are of different kinds; their command zone was to do astonishing & unusual stumping behind the sticks. Not a single franchise in IPL could win consistently without having the right man standing behind the stick to guide & improvise the opportunity created by the bowler. Wriddhiman Saha & Dinesh Karthik, the fair dextrous in the skill, are the most underrated keepers of the IPL. There are many wiki’s who made records in IPL, but here are the top 5 among them who have clinched most stumpings in the tournament.
#1 MS Dhoni (39)
MS Dhoni stands tall at No.1 in the list with the most stumpings in his 14-year long IPL career. The former Indian and CSK skipper also holds the record in ODI format. He had played 220 matches in IPL and had weaved out the stumps 39 times in his career, which is the highest figure by any wicketkeeper in IPL. Moreover, he holds the record of fastest stumping in 0.008 seconds, which almost looks impossible to drag and clinch out the sticks. Also, budding wicket keepers like Mathew Wade & Sam Billings admire Dhoni as their ideal in wicket keeping.
Read Now: What makes Dhoni’s stumpings the fastest? – A detailed review
#2 Dinesh Karthik (32)
He is among very few Tamil cricketers who have appeared in the Indian Premier League. DK has played 213 matches in his IPL career and plundered 32 stumping dismissals in it. He had also taken as many as 113 catches behind the wickets. Dinesh Karthik had played for several franchises like Delhi Daredevils, Gujarat Lions, Kolkata Knight Riders, and now he moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore. He plays the same role that MS Dhoni played in his career, a wicketkeeper and a lower middle-order finisher.
#3 Robin Uthappa (32)
Robin Uthappa has the same numbers in the stumping (32) as Dinesh Karthik, which puts him at No. 3 positions. He has made the entrance in 193 matches in IPL, out of which the number of stumping is 32. His stance behind the wickets made him an exuberant with quick gloves. His most time in wicket keeping was on the side of KKR, where Gautam Gambhir gave him a chance as a full-time wicketkeeper in the team. While in the CSK, he has to field as MS Dhoni takes the shadow behind the wicket.
#4 Wriddhiman Saha (20)
Wriddhiman Saha made the position in the Indian Test team only based on his staggering wicket keeping. He had played 133 matches, clinching 20 times the stumps of opposition batters. He is recognized as the 2nd best wicketkeeper in India after MS Dhoni in the cricket sphere. His numbers are also outstanding across all game formats, especially in the IPL for Kings XI Punjab & Sunrisers Hyderabad. He has been inducted at the fourth position on the list.
#5 Parthiv Patel (16)
Parthiv Patel is the last man to stick to the fifth position; he has played in 139 matches for varied franchises and gives his best possible task with gloves. He had rattled 16 times the stumpings in his whole IPL career. Though the figures are not as impressive as the first four, the quality doesn’t consistently defy the numbers. He has played in the jerseys of Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Deccan Chargers & Sunrisers Hyderabad and always ensures to deliver the best performance from the gloves to his teams
