Since I am having so much fun writing about these articles we are back today with a few more wicket keeper articles where we will compare the best of the best and see who is the greatest of them all. And we will be starting with Mark Boucher vs Kumar Sangakkara. These 2 have been the best wicket keeper batters in the history of their nations and that is a big thing to say but it is the truth and these stats will show you why. Mark Boucher and Kumar Sangakkara are 2 of the keepers who have been playing since the 1990s and went on till the early 2010s.
Before we talk about their stats , it is important to say that both Sri Lanka and South Africa have not found replacements for these 2 players, you can say Quinton De Kock for South Africa but he has not done much in test cricket. And for Sri Lanka there is simply no one that can match the level of the great Kumar Sangakkara. So, let’s take a look at their stats
Mark Boucher
Mark Boucher is the greatest South Africa wicket keeper of all time and his impact was such that not only he was a great wicket keeper but he was a very capable lower order batter and this helped him stay in the team for a long time because he was an all rounder.
Test Cricket
Mark Boucher as we have said in a previous article has been a long time servant of South Africa cricket and he has played so much cricket. He has played a whopping 147 test matches in his career and in those Matches he has scored 5525 runs at an average of 30.30. He has scored 5 test hundreds. As a wicket keeper he has taken the most 532 Catches as a keeper and has done 23 Stumpings.
ODI Cricket
Mark Boucher played 295 ODIs for South Africa and in this illustrious career he got 4686 runs at an average of 28.57 with 1 ODI Hundred and a highest score of 147*. As a wicket keeper he took 403 catches and effected 22 Stumpings. He was a great catcher but he did not fancy Stumpings much.
Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara is one of the greatest cricketers of all time, period and he is in the conversation of being one of the very best batters to have ever played the game as he has scored so many runs and taken so many catches. I love watching him bat because he was pleasing to the eye.
Test Cricket
Kumar Sangakkara has been among the Top 5 test batters of the last 30 years. He has played 134 Test Matches for Sri Lanka and In those he has scored a massive 12400 test runs. He had a mind boggling average of 57.40 and he made 38 Test hundreds in his glorious career and a highest score of 319. As a wicket keeper he took 182 catches and had 20 stumpings.
ODI Cricket
Kumar Sangakkara was as great In ODIs as he played 404 matches and he made a whopping 14234 runs which is the second most in ODIs history. He had a very good average of 41.98 and he scored 25 ODI hundreds in his career. He has a highest score of 169. As a wicket keeper he had 402 catches and made 99 Stumpings.
Mark Boucher vs Kumar Sangakkara Stats Comparison
As Batter in Test Cricket
As Wicketkeeper in Test Cricket
As Batter in ODI Cricket
As Wicketkeeper in ODI Cricket
Conclusion
White clearly Kumar Sangakkara is the way superior batter among the 2 as he has scored over 26000 International runs whereas Mark Boucher has only got 10009+ runs. As a wicketkeeper Mark Boucher is way ahead in test cricket as he has taken 300+ more catches than Kumar but in ODI cricket it is even as they have taken Equal Catches but Kumar Sangakkara has 99 Stumpings and that makes him a little better.
Also Read:
Mark Boucher vs MS Dhoni – Stats Comparison as Wicket Keeper and Batter
MS Dhoni vs Adam Gilchrist – Stats Comparison as Wicket Keeper and Batter
Adam Gilchrist vs Kumar Sangakkara – Stats Comparison as Wicket Keeper and Batter