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Former India skipper MS Dhoni was not only one of the most successful captains in the world but was also one of the finest wicketkeepers produced by India. Dhoni holds the world record for most stumpings in international cricket – 195 as well as the most T20I dismissals as a wicketkeeper – 91 (57 catches and 34 stumpings). The natural talent in Dhoni was always there aplenty to the extent that the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper didn’t even need to hone his wicketkeeping skills in practice. Former Team India fielding coach R. Sridhar made a startling revelation that Dhoni didn’t event practice his wicketkeeping skills after his first 8-9 years in international cricket. “MS Dhoni did not practice wicketkeeping after playing eight or nine years of international cricket. While he was growing up and while he was yet to make a mark in international cricket let’s say before 2007 before 2005 he worked a lot on his wicketkeeping skills. He had a very good technique; he had a technique of his own. I wouldn’t call it unorthodox but very effective” Sridhar told Cricketdotcom website. “He had practiced a lot and he self-admittedly said that once he started playing three formats for India the workload was so much that there was no need for him to practice more because his fingers were taking a beating collecting those deliveries behind the stumps and throws and everything else. That is when he very smartly decreased the workload as a wicketkeeper. Instead he did some small reaction drills which kept him sharp and his gloves lightning fast.” MS Dhoni has more than 1200 dismissals to his name Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket after losing the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinal to New Zealand. But he has carried on in the Indian Premier League. In fact he took over as CSK captain midway through the IPL 2025 season after regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out due to injury. The Jharkhand stumper has managed to effect a whopping 1286 dismissals in 959 professional matches as a wicket-keeper. Sridhar however picked former India wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha as the best glovesman he had coached in his career. “Right up there. I would say he’s one of the best wicketkeepers I have personally spent time with and worked with. Very coachable knows what he wants to work on. Great pair of gloves. Terrific person to have in the team. Great team man and all that apart the commitment he brought as a wicketkeeper to the team” remarked Sridhar. Story Highlights Former India captain MS Dhoni stopped practicing his wicketkeeping skills after first 8-9 years in international cricket. MS Dhoni took this decision due to his immense workload as captain and wicketkeeper of Team India in international cricket. MS Dhoni has over 1200 dismissals as wicketkeeper in all forms of cricket. Former Team India fielding coach R. Sridhar feels Wriddhiman Saha is a better wicketkeeper than MS Dhoni. “He was not the best of chirpers; he just stood silently behind the stumps but the confidence he gave to the captain and the bowlers that ‘Saha is there behind the stumps’ was enormous. I have not seen him drop much to be very honest or miss much. He’ll be in my top two if not top. I’ll always say he’s the best wicketkeeper I have seen from close quarters. Wriddhiman Saha as a wicketkeeper alone top number one” Sridhar added.