Most catches in international cricket: Some of the great batters in cricket have also secured their positions in fielding records.
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For some strange reason, fielding records aren’t celebrated as much as batting and bowling records in cricket. A large majority of passionate cricket fans, who are mostly up to date about batting and bowling records, are found wanting when it comes to fielding records in the sport.
Fielding, a job in cricket which each player has to perform irrespective of primary skill (batting or bowling), more often than not falls in the category of a thankless task.
Having said that, the skill has it in it to turn the tables on a cricket field for a match situation can easily be affected if a fielder grabs a breathtaking catch or drops a sitter.
While batters don’t have to depend on anyone for scoring runs on a cricket field, the nature of the sport is such that bowlers are always depending on fielders expecting them 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 present in the lists of most catches in both international cricket in ODIs.
As far as wicket-keepers are concerned, former South Africa wicket-keeper Mark Boucher, former Australia wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist, former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara are the common names in both the lists.
As a fielder
| Player | Matches | Innings | 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 wicket-keeper
| Player | Matches | Innings | 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
As a fielder
| Player | Matches | Innings | 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 wicket-keeper
| Player | Matches | Innings | 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 |
