We know that Kumar Sangakkara now holds the record for the most consecutive centuries in all ODI cricket (not just in the World Cup):
http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/282969.html
As you can see, the previous record was 3 by various people. No one scored more than two in a row in the World Cup. R. Dravid was one of them.
We now look at the records for dismissals in World Cup matches as on Mar 11:
Sangakkara: 54 dis, 41 ct, 13 st
Gilchrist 52 dis, 45 ct, 7 st
McCullum 33 dis, 30 ctw, 2 st, 1 ctf
Boucher 31 dis, 31 ct, 0 ct
Moin Khan 30 dis, 23 ct, 7 st
Ponting 28 dis, 28 ctf
Dhoni 26 dis, 21 ct, 5 st
Ramdin 25 dis, 25 ct, 0 st
We can expect Sangakkara and Dhoni to add a few more in the course of the tournament, besides McCullum (now not keeping), Dhoni and Ramdin. But Sangakkara’s total of 54 dismissals and 13 stumpings are likely to stand for a long time,while he may also cross Gilchrist’s total of 45 catches.
Ponting’s 28 catches as a fielder may also be a record for a long time. The next in line is Jayasuriya with 18. No current fielder is even close.
Guess which fielder has taken the most catches as a fielder in this World Cup? Umesh Yadav with 7.
Soumya Sarkar from Bangladesh took 4 catches in an innings (vs Scotland) to equal the World Cup record of 4 by Mohammed Kaif against Sri Lanka in 2003.
There is a strange symmetry here as the record is shared by a Hindu from Bangladesh and a Muslim from India. Also remember the only Hindu to score a hat-trick in Tests is Alok Kapali from Bangladesh. India does have Harbhajan Singh as the only Sikh to take a hat-trick, besides Irfan Pathan.
abn397 