Presenting players with most catches as a fielder in ODIs
What's the story
India defeated Australia by four wickets in the first semi-final of the 2025 Champions Trophy, driven by Mohammed Shami's three-fer (3/48) and Virat Kohli's (84 off 98 balls) brilliant half-century.
Meanwhile, Kohli also broke multiple records, surpassing Ricky Ponting for the second-most catches by a fielder in ODIs.
Here's a look at the players with the most catches as fielders in ODI history.
#1
218 - Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene tops the list for most catches as a fielder in ODIs.
Across his 18-year career, he took 218 catches in 448 matches.
According to ESPNcricinfo, his first catch came against Pakistan in 1998, while his 200th was against India in 2013 in an ODI tri-nation series.
He remains the only player to surpass 200 catches in ODI history.
#2
161 - Virat Kohli (India)
As mentioned, during India's semi-final win against Australia, Kohli surpassed Ponting in terms of catches taken.
In his 301st match, Kohli grabbed two catches, racing to a tally of 161. He completed the catches of Josh Inglis and Nathan Ellis.
Kohli owns 336 catches in 549 international matches for India across formats. He owns 121 catches in Tests and 54 in T20Is.
#3
160 - Ricky Ponting (Australia)
The former Australian World Cup-winning skipper takes third place while having taken 160 catches in ODIs as a fielder.
Ponting recorded his first catch against the West Indies back in 1995. Meanwhile, he retired with 160 ODI catches across 315 ODIs.
According to ESPNcricinfo, one of his catches came against Asia XI in 2005 when he was part of the ICC World XI.
#4
156 - Mohammad Azharuddin (India)
Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin took 156 catches in 334 ODIs over his 16-year career.
According to ESPNcricinfo, his first ODI catch came against England (1985), dismissing Mike Gatting.
Interestingly, he made two catches in that game.
Ironically, his 150th catch also came against England, 14 years later, in 1999.
He is also one of the four players to have crossed the 150-catch mark.
#5
142 - Ross Taylor (New Zealand)
Ross Taylor rounds out this list of most ODI catches as a fielder with 142 of them.
In his 17-year ODI career, the New Zealand star played 236 ODIs, having recorded his first catch against Sri Lanka in 2006.
Taylor's most catches in a match came against India (four catches) back in 2010.
Notably, his 142nd catch came against the Netherlands in April 2022.