5 costliest dropped catches in IPL history
The 13th season of the IPL is done with its first week, and we've already seen it all! From nail-biting finishes to massive victories, to injuries, to controversy, it has been an eventful week.
IPL 2020's first week has also seen errors made by teams on the field that have ended up costing them runs, and eventually the match itself. It is now a common saying that catches win matches, and we've seen many of them go down in the UAE.
Over the course of the IPL, like all forms of cricket, mistakes have been made and catches have been dropped. While some instances did not cost the fielding team too much, other instances ended up proving to be the reason for the fielding team losing the game. In this article, we look at 5 of the costliest drop catches in the history of the IPL.
#5) KL Rahul dropped twice by Virat Kohli
This one would still be fresh in the minds of IPL fans, and even more so, RCB fans.
Up until this moment in the game, KL Rahul had been playing risk free cricket and had still been scoring at a good strike rate. Just when Rahul looked to up the ante, he lofted the ball in the air, just to see it slip through the RCB skipper's hands. The elegant batsman from Karnataka was on 83 at the time. However, he gave RCB a chance to make amends right in the next over, but was dropped by Kohli yet again on 89.
This proved a costly affair for RCB as Rahul went berserk and hit sixes for fun after that ball, scoring 43 runs in the next 10 balls that he faced, eventually costing RCB the game.
Runs scored after being dropped: 49
#4) Glenn Maxwell dropped by Ashish Nehra
This one takes us back to the last time that the IPL was held in the UAE. The year was 2014 and Glenn Maxwell was setting the IPL stage on fire with his batting performances for the Kings XI Punjab.
This match in particular saw the Kings XI take on the Chennai Super Kings. CSK had posted a mammoth total of 205, and had figured it would be enough to control the Kings XI. They would've been right too, if it weren't for the dropped catch.
Maxwell had been batting his usual fearless brand of cricket, and the Super Kings were looking at ways to get him out. The opportunity presented itself when the explosive batsman was on 37, which ended with Ashish Nehra dropping the catch.
Maxwell then went on to put on a show and scored his second highest IPL total of 94. In the end, the Kings XI ended up the victors with 6 wickets in hand.
Runs scored after being dropped: 57
#3) David Miller dropped by Virat Kohli
It's another feature for RCB in this article, and yes, it's the skipper again! Although he is known for his fitness and athleticism, Virat Kohli unfortunately features twice in the list of most expensive dropped catches.
The year was 2013, the first year of Kohli's appointment as RCB captain, and the game was being played at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium. With its small boundaries and batting-friendly conditions, it'd have been a delight for any batsman, let alone a man in the striking form that David Miller was on.
The Punjab franchise, however, looked to be on the back foot as they found themselves 4 wickets down within the first 10 overs, needing a daunting 127 off of the next 10. In came David Miller, to whom the night was destined to belong to.
The southpaw went on the offensive and was clearly succeeding, before a skyward shot off of Vinay Kumar's bowling gave RCB the chance to potentially end the game. A sitter was dropped by the RCB skipper, as the ball went out of Kohli's hands as quickly as it came in.
Miller went on to smash the 3rd fastest century in the IPL, and ended with a score of 101 off of just 38 balls. Kings XI Punjab too got a victory to their name after being in a situation where their loss was almost set in stone.
Runs scored after being dropped: 60
#2) Yusuf Pathan dropped by Anirudh Srikanth and Dale Steyn
The last story included one of the fastest hundreds in the IPL. Well, this one speaks of the then fastest 50 in the IPL.
It was a clash between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, which saw Yusuf Pathan smash a half-century off of just 15 deliveries.
Pathan walked in to the field with KKR chasing. He was dropped by Anirudh Srikanth on the very first ball he faced, off of Karn Sharma's bowling. Before the Baroda all-rounder unleashed, he did give the Sunrisers another opportunity when he was on 15. With Parvez Rasool's bowling having deceived him, he hit the ball in the air and it was dropped again by Dale Steyn.
He then struck the ball to all parts of the ground, en route a 72 run knock off of just 22 balls. Ironically, Pathan took Dale Steyn for 26 runs after the latter dropped the catch.
Runs scored after being dropped: 72
#1) Manish Pandey dropped by RP Singh
This one takes us back to 2009, when the Royal Challengers Bangalore consisted of "test-players" such as Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Jacques Kallis, who eventually went on to change the face of modern cricket in one way or another.
The game was played between that year's to-be finalists, the Royal Challengers and the now defunct Deccan Chargers, in what was to be the night that saw the first Indian batsman to score an IPL century. Batting first, the RCB line-up saw Kallis open with a 19-year-old Manish Pandey.
While they first got Kallis out cheaply for just 5 runs, Pandey should've been a goner as well. The third over from Ryan Harris saw the experienced RP Singh drop an easy catch at third man, when the current Karnataka captain was on just 2 runs.
But it was to be Pandey's night, as he smashed the Deccan Chargers' bowlers to all corners of the park, en route his unbeaten 114 off of just 73 balls. Along with ensuring an RCB victory, Pandey also became the first Indian batsman to get to three figures and is till date, the youngest IPL centurion.
Runs scored after being dropped: 112