Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni – the star India wicketkeeper who is leading Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the eighth consecutive season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) – is facing competition behind the wicket for the first time from a compatriot. On Monday, Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Robin Uthappa equalled him in the number of stumping dismissals (22) – the most by any keeper in the cash-rich league.
Uthappa stumped Hanuma Vihari off Piyush Chawla to join Captain Cool in the elite list.
While Dhoni has been a regular with CSK since the tournament’s inception in 2008, Uthappa underwent change of colours thrice before donning the purple.
The 29-year-old Karnataka cricketer started off with Mumbai Indians in 2008. Royal Challengers Bangalore bought him from 2009-2011 and after that, he had a brief stint at the now-defunct Pune Warriors India till 2013. KKR roped him in 2014.
Though jerseys changed but Uthappa’s performance remained uniform throughout. In 2014, he played a major role in KKR’s second IPL triumph in two years. With 660 runs, including five half-centuries from 16 matches, he won the Orange Cap.
However, Dinesh Karthik is slowly catching up with Dhoni too with 21 stumpings. He has already joined the Indian ODI captain in the number of dismissals overall (74) where Uthappa is still behind (60).
But Dhoni has appeared in 122 matches compared to Uthappa (116) and Karthik (115).
