Top five wicketkeeper-batsmen at the World Cup

The Kiran More-Javed Miandad duel in the ’92 World Cup remains etched in our memories. Through the early decades and well into the advent of day/night cricket, wicketkeepers have long been perceived as specialists, with glovework being the primary skill sought from them.Add a healthy dash of exuberance and the ability to chirp away all day long, and you had the perfect wicket keeper. Any runs that they amassed lower down the order were always a bonus.All this changed in the 90s, with the belligerent Romesh Kaluwitharana and then the even more belligerent Adam Gilchrist rewriting the wicketkeeper’s rule book. With the genre now transformed, wicket keepers are the new all-rounders in the team. Send them up the order and they score hundreds, bring them down the order and they turn finishers – all done on the back of a cool 300 sit-ups (a minimum figure in a 50 over game).Often ignored, seldom appreciated and mostly relegated to gathering throw downs from the deep - until an acrobatic catch or a blooper draws the partisan commentator’s ire, the wicketkeeper rarely hogs the limelight. In this slideshow, we put the spotlight on the top five wicket keeper-batsmen – those that made an impact in the group stages of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.

#1 Kumar Sangakkara

Every international star wishes for a final swansong. Kumar Sangakkara is getting just that and is dishing out a lot more in the bargain. With 496 runs from 6 games and four back to back hundreds (three of which contributed to wins), the 37 year old Sri Lankan stalwart is turning this World Cup into his own.

Throw in 5 catches and three stumping’s into the mix and you’ve one heady concoction from the Sangakaara brew factory. For his all round display, Kumar Sangakaara is our undisputed leader of the wicketkeeper-batsmen’s pack.