Sam Billings picks keeping in the IPL as one of the best moments of his career

Former Chennai Super Kings wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings recalled replacing MS Dhoni behind the stumps for CSK in the IPL, labeling it as one of the best moments of his keeping career.

In an exclusive video shared by Vitality T20 Blast to celebrate the #KeepersWeek, Sam Billings revealed the top two moments of his wicket-keeping career. While the right-handed batsman named the IPL moment as one of his best, he mentioned that stumping Jos Buttler in a T20 Blast match was also close to his heart.

I had pretty big shoes to fill, in MS Dhoni: Sam Billings

A look at @sambillings' other favourite moment...Stumping @josbuttler for a golden 🦆!#KeepersWeek pic.twitter.com/IoylYaZCxT

— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) July 23, 2020

Sam Billings joined CSK as a backup wicket-keeper in IPL 2018. He earned everyone's attention by smashing a match-winning fifty against the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, the Englishman could not play with consistency in the IPL.

The team management retained him in 2019, and when MS Dhoni decided to skip the fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Sam Billings earned a chance to keep wickets for CSK.

"I think also keeping in the IPL. I had pretty big shoes to fill in Mahendra Singh Dhoni one game. That was a bit pressure in that but I ended up keeping pretty well," Sam Billings recalled.

When asked about his favorite moments as a wicket-keeper, Billings mentioned that dismissing Jos Buttler in a Vitality T20 Blast match was a dismissal close to his heart because that was a big game and Buttler was an incredible player.

In that IPL 2019 encounter between CSK and SRH, Suresh Raina led the Yellow franchise, but they could only score 132 runs in the first innings. Sam Billings got out for a four-ball duck in that contest.

Half-centuries from David Warner and Jonny Bairstow ensured that SRH defeated CSK by six wickets. Billings took one catch behind the stumps after Vijay Shankar edged a delivery from Imran Tahir.