Catches win matches so the saying goes! Here we consider some of the best fielding in the IPL and the players with the best records in the field.
Let’s begin with some of the all time fielding records then.
Our first table shows most dismissals in the history of the IPL including catches, stumpings and run outs. Unsurprisingly this measure of the best fielding in the IPL is dominated by wicket keepers or at least players who have spent some of their career keeping.
Players | Total Dismissals |
MS Dhoni | 173 |
KD Karthik | 162 |
RV Uthappa | 128 |
AB de Villiers | 125 |
SK Raina | 118 |
KA Pollard | 100 |
RG Sharma | 96 |
PA Patel | 96 |
V Kohli | 93 |
RA Jadeja | 89 |
If we turn our attention solely to the player with the most catches in the IPL we get the following for best fielding in the IPL.
Player | Catches |
KD Karthik | 118 |
MS Dhoni | 113 |
AB de Villiers | 103 |
SK Raina | 102 |
KA Pollard | 90 |
RV Uthappa | 87 |
RG Sharma | 86 |
V Kohli | 76 |
DJ Bravo | 75 |
S Dhawan | 73 |
Moving onto the most run outs in the IPL, MS Dhoni once again sits at the top of the list of best fielding in the IPL in this category. His ability to throw off a glove, collect the ball and hit the stumps as batsmen try and scamper a quick bye is legendary and he is joined by several other CSK stalwarts on this list suggesting that their success as a franchise is based as much as anything on them being the best fielding side in the IPL.
Player | Run outs |
MS Dhoni | 21 |
RA Jadeja | 21 |
V Kohli | 17 |
MK Pandey | 16 |
SK Raina | 16 |
AB de Villiers | 14 |
KD Karthik | 14 |
DJ Bravo | 13 |
PA Patel | 11 |
AT Rayudu | 11 |
Lets try and quantify that last remark about the best fielding team in IPL then and consider some of the fielding stats by team. Here we look at the team with the most catches in the IPL. To account for the fact that at various times and for various reasons some franchises haven’t been involved the table is sorted by the most catches in the IPL per innings by each team.
It doesn’t come as any great surprise that the teams who have been the most successful in the history of the IPL are also the teams who are the best in the field, generating and taking more catches.
Team | Total Catches | Catches per innings |
CSK | 731 | 4.11 |
MI | 793 | 3.91 |
SRH | 480 | 3.87 |
RPS | 114 | 3.83 |
RCB | 731 | 3.77 |
Deccan Chargers | 282 | 3.76 |
RR | 594 | 3.69 |
Dehli Capitals | 701 | 3.63 |
KXIP | 670 | 3.53 |
PW | 157 | 3.41 |
KKR | 632 | 3.29 |
GL | 98 | 3.27 |
KTK | 37 | 2.64 |
Interestingly when we look at which is the best fielding team in the IPL based on the most run outs the table is almost reversed. This begs the questions as to whether more run outs necessarily indicates better fielding in the IPL or just a greater reliance on that particular dismissal at the expense of the more common catch.
The exception to this rule is probably KXIP who have a miserable record in both catching and run outs and can probably lay claim to the unenviable title of the worst fielding side in the IPL a fact that goes a long way to explaining their lack of playoff appearances in the last 6 seasons.
Team | Total Run Outs | Run Outs per innings |
KTK | 12 | 0.86 |
Delhi Capitals | 130 | 0.67 |
RPS | 19 | 0.63 |
GL | 18 | 0.60 |
RR | 92 | 0.57 |
KKR | 106 | 0.55 |
CSK | 98 | 0.55 |
SRH | 68 | 0.55 |
MI | 108 | 0.53 |
RCB | 101 | 0.52 |
Deccan Chargers | 38 | 0.51 |
KXIP | 92 | 0.48 |
PW | 18 | 0.39 |
There have been 2 examples of some of the best fielding in the IPL by teams who managed to take all 10 wickets out caught in an innings. Coincidentally the 2 matches came just a few weeks apart in the 2017 season although the match situation in both games was very similar with the side chasing having to go hard in pursuit of 200+ and offering up plenty of catches in the process.
You can watch highlights below of the best fielding in the IPL – 10 catches in an innings
The most run outs in an innings in the IPL is 5 in a game between Mumbai Indians and KXIP including an incredible 3 run outs in the final over as Mumbai just fell short in an eventful run chase with Yuvraj Singh finishing the match with a superman style dive worthy of a record to be included in the best fielding in the IPL.
Watch highlights from 2008 here
As for individual efforts, the below list of players can all lay claim to the best fielding in the IPL in a single innings by claiming 4 catches a piece.
Year | Player | Fixture |
2008 | SR Tendulkar | MI v KKR |
2010 | DA Warner | Delhi Daredevils v RR |
2011 | JH Kallis | KKR v Deccan Chargers |
2019 | R Tewatia | MI v Delhi Capitals |
2019 | DA Miller | MI v KXIP |
2019 | F du Plessis | KKR v CSK |