IPL: 3 international wicket-keepers who couldn’t make it big 

When it comes to best international wicket-keepers, three names strike your mind immediately. They are Adam Gilchrist, Kumar Sangakkara, and M.S Dhoni. These players not only set the international stage on fire but were also pretty consistent for their respective IPL franchises.

Adam Gilchrist led Deccan Chargers to its maiden IPL trophy in 2009. Kumara Sangakkara captained Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers, and Sunrisers Hyderabad, which is the most by any international wicket-keeper captain. M.S Dhoni has led Chennai Super Kings to two IPL titles and has the best winning ratio amongst others.

However, not all the wicketkeepers were successful in the IPL. Let us look at 3 International wicket-keepers who couldn’t much taste success in Indian Premier League.

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#3 Brad Haddin

Brad Haddin was considered being the best wicket keeper of Australia post the retirement of Adam Gilchrist. He has been a vital cog in the Australian team performing both with the bat and behind the stumps. His athletic wicket-keeping and attacking stroke-play caught the eye of Australian selectors and made him a prominent fixture in the Australian squad. Also, his consistent performances with the bat in the limited overs format fetched him an IPL contract. In 2011 he was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for US$325,000.

He made his debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the iconic Eden Gardens. Put into bat first on an overcast afternoon, Brad Haddin opened the innings with Jacques Kallis. Both the openers got the team to a flying start scoring at nearly 10 runs per over. Brad Haddin started off his innings with a six and a four in the 2nd over of Sreenath Arvind. On the last ball of the 4th over, he smashed a boundary of Dilshan taking his personal score to 18.

He got out in the next over of the bowling of left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad trying to loft one over mid-off. Haddin was looking in good touch but unfortunately got out after a short inning of 18 of 11 balls, which included 2 boundaries and 1 Six.

Brad Haddin was on the losing end as Royal Challengers registered a comprehensive win by 9 wickets. Unfortunately, this was the last time the wicket-keeper was seen in an IPL jersey as he was out due to a finger injury and went unsold thereafter. He registered himself in the auctions thereafter but no franchise showed interest in him and hence went unsold in the following seasons.

#2 Luke Ronchi

New Zealand born Luke Ronchi is the only cricketer to represent 2 full-time ICC teams after Kepler Wessels. He holds the record for being the only player to play for both Australia and New Zealand. The aggressive right-handed batsman has represented over 10 domestic teams across the world over a decade. His attacking stroke-play and agile wicket-keeping fetched him an IPL contract in the Inaugural edition of Indian Premier League.

He was picked up by Mumbai Indians for his hard-hitting reputation. However, the right-handed batsman couldn’t make justice for his selection. He played only 4 games in the entire season scoring only 34 runs with a poor average of 8.50 and with the highest score of 13 runs. He didn’t play the rest of the season and warmed the bench.

He was again retained by Mumbai Indians for the second season that was played in South Africa. He played only 1 solitary game against Delhi Daredevils and got for a duck on the second ball he faced. In total, he played 5 games in 2 seasons of IPL and could muster only 34 runs with an average of 6.80.

Luke Ronchi went unsold in all the following seasons. However, he has hit a purple patch recently, as he scored the second fastest 50 in Pakistan Super League and played a crucial role for Islamabad United who was the winners of the 3rd season of PSL.

#1 Mark Boucher

Mark Boucher needs no introduction; he is regarded as the best wicket-keeper South Africa has ever produced. He holds the record for most dismissals in all formats of the game with 999 dismissals. He also holds the record for most number of catches in all the formats of the game with 952 catches. However, he couldn’t make it big in IPL despite having a huge reputation and being considered as one of the greats.

The right-handed wicket-keeper batsman was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Inaugural edition of IPL. Coming lower down the order he scored 225 runs in 10 games with a decent average of 32.14 and a strike-rate of 127.12 with a 50 to his name. Royal Challengers finished 7th in this season.

Boucher didn’t do much with the bat in the 2nd season of Indian Premier League that was played in South Africa. He scored 150 runs in 12 games but was very effective behind the stumps. Royal Challengers finished runners-up in this second season.

In the 3rd season, Boucher could only play 5 games and he was replaced by Robin Uthappa as wicket-keeper for the majority of the games. Uthappa had a prolific 3rd season, which sidelined Mark Boucher. He was also released by Royal Challengers franchise post this season.

He was picked up by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 4th season of IPL. He played 4 games in the entire season and couldn’t contribute much with the bat. He was replaced by a young local wicket-keeper Shrivats Goswami for the majority of the games.

Mark Boucher continued his stint as a wicket-keeping consultant for a brief period, before bidding adieu forever from IPL.