Most Catches in International Cricket: Some of the great batters in cricket have also secured their positions in field records.
For some strange reason, field records are not celebrated as much as batting and bowling records in cricket. A vast majority of passionate cricket fans, who are usually up to date on batting and bowling records, have been found to fall short when it comes to breaking records in the sport.
Fielding, a job in cricket that every player must perform, regardless of primary skill (batting or bowling), more often than not falls into the category of a thankless task.
That said, the skill is in turning the tables on a cricket pitch as a match situation can be easily affected if a fielder grabs a jaw-dropping catch or drops a sitter.
While batters need not depend on anyone for scoring runs on a cricket ground, the nature of the sport is such that bowlers are always dependent on field players who expect to grab all the catches that come their way. Hence, increasing the role and importance of a fielder in cricket.
Most Catches in International Cricket
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting and former New Zealand captain Ross Taylor are featured in the lists of most catches in both international cricket in ODIs.
As for the wicketkeepers, former South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara are the common names in both lists.
like a fielder
Player | Matches | collection | catches | Max |
Mahela Jayawardene (SL/Asia) | 652 | 768 | 440 | 4 |
Ricky Ponting (AUS/ICC) | 560 | 717 | 364 | 3 |
Ross Taylor (NZ) | 447 | 543 | 348 | 4 |
Jacques Kallis (SA/Afr/ICC) | 519 | 664 | 338 | 4 |
Rahul Dravid (IND/Asia/ICC) | 509 | 571 | 334 | 4 |
As a wicketkeeper
Player | Matches | collection | catches | Max |
Mark Boucher (SA/Afr/ICC) | 467 | 596 | 952 | 6 |
Adam Gilchrist (AUS/ICC) | 396 | 485 | 813 | 6 |
MS Dhoni (IND/Asia) | 538 | 608 | 634 | 6 |
Ian Healy (AUS) | 287 | 392 | 560 | 6 |
Kumar Sangakkara (SL/Asia/ICC) | 594 | 499 | 539 | 5 |
Most ODI catches
like a fielder
Player | Matches | collection | catches | Max |
Mahela Jayawardene (Asia/SL) | 448 | 443 | 218 | 4 |
Ricky Ponting (AUS/ICC) | 375 | 372 | 160 | 3 |
Mohammed Azharuddin (IND) | 334 | 332 | 156 | 4 |
Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 463 | 456 | 140 | 4 |
Ross Taylor (NZ) | 233 | 229 | 139 | 4 |
As a wicketkeeper
Player | Matches | collection | catches | Max |
Adam Gilchrist (AUS/ICC) | 287 | 281 | 417 | 6 |
Mark Boucher (SA/Afr/ICC) | 295 | 290 | 402 | 6 |
Kumar Sangakkara (SL/Asia/ICC) | 404 | 353 | 383 | 4 |
MS Dhoni (IND/Asia) | 350 | 345 | 321 | 5 |
Brendon McCullum (NZ) | 260 | 183 | 227 | 5 |