Former RCB star picks the best left-handed wicketkeeper-batter ahead of AUS vs IND 2025 ODIs; ignores Rishabh Pant

Former Indian cricketer Parthiv Patel picked the best left-handed wicketkeeper of all time between Adam Gilchrist, Kumar Sangakkara, and Rishabh Pant. Parthiv went with Australia's three-time ODI World Cup winner, Adam Gilchrist, over the other two.

The former Aussie gloveman is second all-time for wicketkeeping dismissals with 905 in 396 outings. Meanwhile, Sangakkara retired from international cricket with 678 dismissals behind the stumps in 594 outings.

Pant is still well behind the above two, even as he continues to go strong with 244 wicketkeeping dismissals in 154 matches.

In an interview with DD Sports, Parthiv made his choice and stated his reason for the same, saying:

"Adam Gilchrist. Obviously Sangakkara was a different kind of player with style and grace. But he did not play his entire career as a wicketkeeper batter. Sometimes he would play as a pure batter and other times, he would play as a wicketkeeper batter. Rishabh Pant is still work in progress as far as white-ball cricket is concerned. But I think Adam Gilchrist is the complete package in terms of white-ball and Test cricket."

While Gilchrist was a three-time ODI World Cup winner, Sangakkara and Pant won a T20 World Cup each in 2014 and 2024, respectively.

Parthiv Patel picks MS Dhoni over Kumar Sangakkara as best wicketkeeper captain

Parthiv Patel had no hesitation in picking MS Dhoni over Kumar Sangakkara and Andy Flower as the best wicketkeeper captain of all time. Dhoni and Sangakkara met as captains in the 2011 ODI World Cup final, with the former coming out on top.

"This is not even a question. There is no comparision in this. MS Dhoni was a far better than wicketkeeper captain than Sangakkara because I've played against and under Sanga for the Deccan Chargers when he was the keeper-captain. It's not that he was bad or I mean to disrespect him but Dhoni as a wicketkeeper captain was above everyone else," said Parthiv (via aforementioned source).

Dhoni led India in an incredible 332 games across formats, winning 178 and losing only 120, including title runs in the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup. On the other hand, Sangakkara led Sri Lanka in only 82 matches, winning 45 and losing 26.