Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper batsman Jitesh Sharma recently described CSK legend MS Dhoni as the greatest wicketkeeper in IPL history.
Speaking to Cricbuzz and playing in the ‘winner stays’ format, Jitesh Sharma was asked to name the best wicketkeepers in the history of the league.
The game started with the host asking Jitesh to choose between Wriddhiman Saha and Parthiv Patel.
Sanju Samson early contender
Jitesh originally chose Saha over Patel. Saha played for 5 different teams in IPL between 2008 and 2024. He won the IPL title twice (in 2011 with CSK and in 2022 with GT). His crowning glory was undoubtedly his century in the final of the 2014 edition. Saha scored an unbeaten 115 while playing for Punjab Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders, but his team lost the final.
Former Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson wins over Saha, at least in Jitesh Sharma’s opinion. Samson has already scored two centuries while playing for CSK in IPL 2026, but he has spent the majority of his career in RR. Actually, Samson is the highest run scorer in the history of RR.
Jitesh Sharma also chose Samson instead of Quinton de Kock, but chose Adam Gilchrist instead of Samson. Gilchrist was the captain of the Deccan Chargers team which won the IPL in 2009 despite finishing last in 2008. Gilchrist also captained Punjab Kings towards the end of his career.
Dinesh Karthik is a strong contender in the middle
In the past, Jitesh Sharma had talked about his admiration for Adam Gilchrist but when faced with the choice, he chose Dinesh Karthik over the Australian left-hander.
Interestingly, Karthik is the batting coach of RCB from 2025. Jitesh chose Karthik over other stalwarts like Naman Ojha, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Robin Uthappa.
Karthik also played 17 seasons of IPL between 2008 and 2024. The Tamil Nadu keeper made a name for himself as a finisher but won the IPL trophy only once as a player, in 2013 with Mumbai Indians. Karthik also served as the captain of KKR between 2018 and 2020.
MS Dhoni, the ultimate champion
Although Jitesh kept ‘DK’ in the game for the longest time, he eventually took on KL Rahul. Rahul was one of the most consistent batsmen in the IPL, especially between 2018 and 2022.
In those five seasons, Rahul managed to cross the 600-run barrier four times, and missed it by a narrow margin in 2019 with 593 runs. Although Rahul has never been a part of an IPL title-winning team, in IPL 2026, he has reached No. 5 in the all-time IPL run chart.
Rahul has also scored a total of 6 IPL centuries, including 152* while playing for Delhi Capitals against Punjab Kings in 2026.
However, in the end, Sharma chose MS Dhoni over KL Rahul as the game-winner. Despite playing mostly as a finisher, Dhoni is the sixth-highest run-scorer of all time in IPL history. His exploits as a finisher are legendary, and so are his five IPL trophies as captain of Chennai Super Kings.
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Jitesh Sharma’s form and RCB’s next match in IPL 2026
Amidst all this, however, Jitesh Sharma’s own batting form in IPL 2026 has been worrying. He has scored only 63 runs in 9 matches. Even though he mostly plays as a finisher, his batting average is just 9 and strike rate is 112.50.
However, RCB is currently placed second on the points table in IPL 2026 with 6 wins from 9 matches and the best net run rate in the league. Their next match is against the almost eliminated Lucknow Super Giants team on 7 May. RCB will fancy their chances against a team they have beaten once before this season.
