How Much Better is MS Dhoni than Other Indian Wicket-keepers?

How Much Better is MS Dhoni than Other Indian Wicket-keepers; Before MSD arrived in the Indian team, who would have thought that a wicketkeeper-batsman would go on to become the batting mainstay of the side or would serve the Indian cricket for well over a decade?

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However, much before his arrival, wicketkeeping in India was all about a player who could keep the wickets and bat a little bit. Not surprisingly, the wicketkeepers did not last long. Sadanand Vishwanath, Chandrakant Pandit, Vijay Yadav, MSK Prasad, Saba Karim, Vijay Dahiya, Sameer Dighe, Deep Dasgupta, Ajay Ratra – the list is long for the wicketkeepers who managed to break into the Indian team but could not make an impression.

None of those mentioned above players could manage to play more than 65 games – a fact that proves how big an impression Dhoni made on the Indian cricket.

That he??has done so much coming from a region which hardly produced cricketers earlier and excelled through a home-made batting and wicketkeeping technique makes his achievements even more commendable. That Dhoni has been the best wicketkeeper to play this game is not something that needs to be proved.

However, unfortunately, the legendary wicketkeeper is coping widespread for quite some time now which was a far-fetched reality just a couple of years ago.

There is no denying that the World Cup-winning skipper is going through a lean patch which is perhaps too much to take for this demanding cricket nation. But then again, one cannot deny the fact that the man needs some backing from the fans after giving India so much in the last one decade or so.

What further backs his case is the gulf in quality between him, his predecessors as well as his contemporaries.

Pundits and fans have been continuously saying Rishabh Pant should replace Dhoni. While Pant’s solid start to cricket??certainly gives him an opportunity to make a case for himself, one should not forget the past.

Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel were two players who were fast-tracked into the national side after impressing in domestic cricket at a very young age. Almost two decades later, they are still struggling to cement their places in the team.

Not very long ago, the Indian keepers’ averaged in the mid-20s and looked lost while batting against quality positions. It was Dhoni who showed the country that a keeper could also do the job. Average of over 50 in ODIs and close to 40 in the other two formats makes it clear how good a batsman Dhoni is.

A table given below shows the stats of the present and past Indian wicketkeepers. A mere look at the stats even without looking at the names will be enough to find out which row belongs to MS Dhoni. While his predecessors and contemporaries could barely touch the 30-mark in average, his is close to 45 across formats.

He is the first wicketkeeper to slam a double ton in Tests in addition to holding the record for highest ODI score by an Indian wicketkeeper in ODIs as well as Tests.

In fact, he has more fifties and centuries than the combined tally of all the following given wicketkeepers.

Even in wicketkeeping, the 37-year old is far ahead of the lot. While none of the following players could take more than 209 catches, MS Dhoni took 616 catches in addition to affecting 184 stumping.

Here are the stats showing the performances of the Indian wicketkeepers as compared to that of MS Dhoni –

How Much Better is MS Dhoni than Other Indian Wicket-keepers?

The stats make it pretty much clear that Dhoni is far ahead of his predecessors and contemporaries. One can understand that the fans are frustrated with his current form but one needs to be patient and give the legendary man some deserved time to get back to his best.