Five highest individual scores by wicket-keepers in IPL
The evolution of the Twenty20 format raised the requirement of the skill set with the bat for the wicketkeeper. From the days of keepers batting down the order, the gloveman are now considered to be top batters in some teams. The Indian Premier League (IPL) isn’t any different from this fact as keepers in a couple of line-ups in the 2020 IPL are main batters of their franchise.
Keepers have had great success with the bat in the IPL with as many as seven hundreds being recorded by the batsmen while playing as designated keepers. The highest score by a wicketkeeper in the IPL is led by Rishabh Pant who scored an unbeaten 128 from 63 balls for the Delhi franchise against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018. A huge over towards the end against Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped the left-hander to put on a big score which is currently the 3rd highest T20 score by any keeper.
Jonny Bairstow came close to breaking the record a year later when the England keeper-batsman smashed 114 from 56 balls against RCB. The first player to score an IPL century as a wicketkeeper was the Australian legend, Adam Gilchrist, during the inaugural season. Playing for the Deccan Chargers, Gilchrist smashed an unbeaten 47-ball 109 to help his side to register a 10-wicket win over Mumbai Indians. It was also the first win of the IPL history for the Hyderabad franchise.
By the time any other keeper scored a hundred in the league, Gilchrist scored his 2nd ton in 2011 as a keeper, this time while leading the Kings XI Punjab. Wriddhiman Saha, with an unbeaten 115 in the 2014 IPL final, became only the 2nd wicketkeeper to smash a hundred in the IPL. Saha, in this process, he also became the first player to smash a ton in IPL. Only Shane Watson (117* in 2018) managed to replicate the feat of scoring a ton in an IPL final. In IPL 2016, South African wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock struck 108 from just 51 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His innings helped the side chase down RCB’s total of 191 runs.
(Stats as on August 28, 2020)
