Cricket is a game where important moments need to be capitalised upon. There have been cases when certain moments have changed the entire history of a game. One of the most crucial moments in a game is when a catch is dropped as batsmen are boosted by confidence and make full use of their second life.
Here are some of the most expensive dropped catches in history:
Ashley Giles dropping Ponting:
The Ashes is one series where the intensity of cricket is very high and players are constantly being scrutinised. Back in 2006/07 when England faced Australia at Adelaide in the second test, facing a 1-0 deficit, they had put up a comfortable 551/6 in their first innings.
The Australians were teetering at 65/3 and the Punter, on 35, hit a high one to Giles at deep square leg. The Englishman put down a straightforward catch and was punished. Ponting went on to make 142 and Australia won the game.
Marlon Samuels dropping Martin Guptill:
In the World Cup, it is important for players to be at the peak of their concentration as a small mistake can prove to be very fatal. Just ask Marlon Samuels of the West Indies who will regret having dropped Guptill.
In the encounter, the New Zealand batsman was on 4 hit one to short cover where Samuels was waiting. What would have been a straightforward catch ended up being dropped and Guptill went on to make the highest score by any batsman in World Cup history – 237. Wow.
Graham Gooch dropped by Kiran More:
The Indian team was not the best touring side back in the late 80s and early 90s but would have been fancying their chances against England in a series back then. They ended up losing the series only 1-0 and could point out to one moment that caused that.
Keeping to Gooch, Kiran More dropped a simple catch when the batsman was on 36. He went on to hit 297 more runs and finished on 333 as England routed India.
Matthew Elliot dropped by Graham Thorpe:
In a closely fought 1997 Ashes series, the 4th match was played as the series was tied at 1-1. The Aussies demolished England for just 172 in their first innings and were playing at 50 for 4 when Mattew Elliot edged one.
The catch should have been a straightforward one but Graham Thorpe made a mess of it. Elliott gained confidence from the reprieve and smashed a game-changing 199 as the Aussies won by an innings and 61 runs and won the series eventually.
Sarfaraz dropped by Thisara Perera:
Perera has a history of dropping important catches as demonstrated by his actions against India earlier. In a tense Champions Trophy semi-final in 2016, Lasith Malinga was bowling his heart out and they only needed the wicket of Sarfaraz Ahmed to dismiss all their known batsmen from the team.
Malinga bowled a slower one that deceived the Pakistani captain into playing an early shot straight to mid-on. What should have been a catch simple enough to be taken by a 10 year old was dropped by Perera and Sri Lanka ended up losing the entire match as Sarfaraz won them the game.
Steve Waugh dropped by Herschelle Gibbs:
The most iconic drop catch in probably all of cricketing history must surely belong to Herschelle Gibbs. Playing a World Cup match against the Australians, Steve Waugh was batting when he hit one straight to Gibbs at short extra cover.
Gibbs, who was one of the best fielders in the world at the time, took the catch, but dropped it on his knee accidentally. Steve Waugh muttered the words, “You just dropped the World Cup” as he went on to make 120* and win them the game.
Rohit Sharma dropped by Thisara Perera
No dropped catch is more costlier, in terms of runs, than Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera giving a lifeline to India’s opening batsman Rohit Sharma. In an ODI match between India and Sri Lanka, Perera dropped Rohit Sharma on 4 runs, and the Mumbai batsman went onto score 264 runs. This means, the dropped catch costed Sri Lanka 260 additional runs that could have been avoided.
By Rohit Nair
