Gilchrist or Dhoni? Sarfaraz Ahmed picks better wicketkeeper batsman

Cricket is not just a game between bat and ball, over the years fielding and wicket-keeping, in general, have become integral parts of the gentleman’s game. Many great players have donned the wicket keeping gloves over many years, but only a handful of them have gone onto make names for themselves for both their keeping and batting skills. Two such big names are Adam Gilchrist and former Indian captain MS Dhoni. Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Khan in his latest live interview picked the best out of these two.

Redefining the role of a wicketkeeper

MS Dhoni and Adam Gilchrist are two cricketers who redefined the role of a wicketkeeper in a team. Before these two started playing cricket, the role of a wicket-keeper in a team was just to keep wickets and didn’t have to be a good enough batsman. But Gilchrist in the nineties and early part of the 2000s redefined this role. He showed to the world what value a wicketkeeper brings to the team if he can bat as good as the rest of the batsmen in the team. He consistently made runs for Australia, which complemented his brilliant keeping skills.

MS Dhoni, a huge fan of Adam Gilchrist followed his idol’s footsteps as he made his debut for the Indian team in the early 2000s. Unlike Gilchrist who provided quick starts to the Australian batting line up, he started making a name for himself as a finisher- a role which was quite unfamiliar to Indian cricket at that time. His lightning-quick hands made him quite unique from the rest of the wicket keepers.

Sarfaraz Ahmed picks the best wicket-keeper batsman

Former Pakistan Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed was involved in a live interview recently. He came in to share his memories of the Champions Trophy victory of Pakistan in 2017. Among the many questions he faced during the interview, one notable question was:

“MS Dhoni or Adam Gilchrist – A better cricketer?”

Sarfaraz, a wicketkeeper himself was quick to respond.  Without a shadow of doubt he picked the former Indian captain, MS Dhoni, as the best wicketkeeper-batsman.

“MS Dhoni” he said.

Dhoni has so far 829 dismissals to his name in international cricket and sits comfortably in the third spot in the list of most dismissals as a wicket-keeper in international cricket.

Sarfaraz Ahmed back in national duty

Meanwhile Sarfaraz Ahmed who was dropped from the squad and sacked from captaincy after a string of bad performances has been now named in Pakistan’s 29-man squad for the Test and T20I series in England in August-September. As per the selectors, he is still not the first choice keeper and has been named in the squad as a backup option.

For more cricket news, click here.