5 Instances in recent Cricket history when Fevicol would have helped fielders take easy catches

“Catches win matches” – This old saying is one of the truest lines ever said in the history of cricket. We’ve seen how Kapil Dev’s catch to dismiss Vivian Richards in the 1983 World Cup final changed the course of the tie and helped India win their maiden World title.

There have, however, also been incidents from the other end of the spectrum—where dolly catches were dropped. A plethora of jokes have been made on such instances like the fielder had butter fingers, he should have applied Fevicol on his hands to help him catch the ball, etc.

Let’s take a look at the easiest catches dropped in recent history:

#1 S. Sreesanth

Just look at the first drop. The ball is coming straight at Sreesanth and yet he somehow manages to not only drop it, but also let it go to the fence for a boundary. It is almost as though there was a huge hole in his hand that caused the ball to pass through it.

#2 Kumar Sangakkara

For someone who has tons of experience in the game, dropping a catch like this wasn’t expected from the Sri Lankan legend. In the very same game, Sangakkara—who is usually a wicket-keeper—was fielding in the outfield and dropped a catch after doing the good work of covering the ground.

Running backward to take a catch is never an easy thing. Sanga, however, made it look easy… until the ball hit his hands. After that, it just wobbled out of his palms and fell on the ground. To make matters worse, he kicked the ball towards the boundary! Whoever said ‘When it rains, it pours’ was definitely watching Sanga field.

#3 Kamran Akmal

A wicketkeeper is said to have the safest hands in the sport of cricket. This statement, however, may not be true in the case of Pakistan when Kamran Akmal is playing.

In this particular incident, he seems confident of taking the ball and misjudges it completely. Despite getting hands to the ball, he lets it go between his gloves. A bit of Fevicol would have saved him from the embarrassment.

#4 Kamran strikes again

Unlike the last one, he didn’t have to even run this time. All he had to do was hold the ball that was coming straight at him. Mohammad Aamer was spitting venom with his bowling, having sent 2 Sri Lankan batsmen to the pavilion already, and it would have been 3, if not for the wicketkeeper’s howler.

The ball just ricocheted off Akmal’s glove like a wall and Mahela Jayawardane survived. As the commentator rightly puts it, ‘It was the easiest one you could ask for as a wicketkeeper’, but for Akmal the butter fingers came to the picture once again.

#5 Mushfiqur Rahim

This time, Pakistan were on the other end of some fortune. Bangladesh had done everything right, set a target of 327 and got 5 early wickets to put Pakistan on the back foot. Afridi, however, had other ideas as he scored a 50 off just over 20 balls and was going full guns blazing till Al-Amin Hossain out-foxed him… Well, it seemed like he did.

Afridi’s wild swing could only manage the top edge and Mushfiqur Rahim positioned himself beneath the ball, which was coming straight down his throat. He got hold of the ball, but the ball bounced off it like his hands were a trampoline.

Afridi went on to win the match for Pakistan and further put evidence to the saying, ‘Catches win matches’. If only Mushfiqur Rahim had a Majboot Jod with the ball, it would have been Bangladesh’s day.