Dropped Catches In The IPL: Despite the fact, Kohli is labelled as one of the finest fielders of the cricketing canon at the moment, his numbers in the Indian Premier League has dipped vertiginously.
He has been pretty sloppy in the field with a couple of misfields and dropped catches. With this just been the beginning of the tournament, are we going to see the vulnerability of an immaculate athlete?
Of course, he has pulled off several glorious feats in the field, plucking out rippers off the mid-air, stopping impossible boundaries, compelling batsmen to leave that extra run behind and catching them short of the crease with thunderous throws at the stumps but he also sits on the top of an infamous record which underlines the fact that he is more of a pedestal customer in the colours of Challengers.
Going by the record of the highest number of catches dropped in the last six years of the tournament, Kohli holds the throne and is followed by quite a few significant names.
We will look at those cricketers who have dropped the highest number of catches in IPL in the last six years.
Virat Kohli – 15 dropped catches
Kohli is deemed to be one of the fittest athletes across the globe and also one of the finest fielders across the face of the planet. He is indeed a beacon of excellence with the bat in the hand and his brilliant fielding.
He mainly fields at the short cover in the beginning and as the game progresses he flips his position either to the long-off or the deep square leg boundary. As he dropped two sitters of KL Rahul tonight after which the Indian opener went nuclear, an ugly piece was unearthed.
In the last six years of IPL, Kohli has dropped a whopping 15 catches in the fray. Call it lights or call it lagging behind, his fielding skills in the domestic extravaganza are pretty ordinary.
Ravindra Jadeja – 14 dropped catches
Much to the woes of the Indian cricket fans, their second-best fielder on the ground is also a sloppy customer in the echelons of IPL.
Ravindra Jadeja is one of India’s finest fielders and fields either at the point which was once kept by the legendary Yuvraj Singh or at mid-wicket, in extreme circumstances, deep mid-wicket.
He has managed to dislodge the timbre with his laserlike throws and has also pouched a few rippers that saw him climbing through the ranks. Unfortunately, when it comes to the colours of IPL, he has dropped a staggering 14 catches until now.
Pretty untoward of one of the best fielders in the game, but the truth is stranger than fiction.
Robin Uthappa – 12 dropped catches
This is an ignominious fact that one cannot simply shake apart. Uthappa is a wicket-keeper and being the protector of the castle, he has dropped 12 catches in the last six years.
Going by the average it is pretty low, coming to two catches a year. However, as we know that catches win matches, let’s just say that he managed to drop those catches twice a year, one in the first play-off and the second in the second-play off, its game over.
Also, since the numbers are on the lower side, do you remember Sreesanth running in from backward short leg in that remarkable T20 World Cup final to pouch the most important catch of Misbah Ul Haq?
Imagine that was the only catch which Sreesanth dropped in his entire career. I hope the rest doesn’t really need to be explained.
Harbhajan Singh – 12 dropped catches
Barring slip, gully and point, Harbhajan Singh has fielded in every single position that cricket could have ever thought of. He was never the maestro of fielding, in fact, he wasn’t even ordinary.
He always had a knack of miffing chances which wanted to remain glued to his hands despite the best of butterfingers. However, he did manage to pull off a few decent catches in his career.
With all said and done, Harbhajan has spilt 12 catches in the last six years. Dhoni must have realized that he needed an extra tinge of pep-talk to keep those changes in control.
