IPL 2018: 5 instances when a dropped catch proved costly for an IPL franchise

Looking at 5 major dropped catches that proved costly for an IPL franchise.

There is an old saying that "Catches win you matches" which came true in yesterday's game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, when Ajinkya Rahane one of the best fielders at the slip region dropped a sitter of Shikhar Dhawan, when Dhawan was yet to open his account, which eventually cost Rajasthan Royals the match as Dhawan went on to score an unbeaten 77 runs off 57 balls to help Sunrisers Hyderabad win the match by 9 wickets.

Ajinkya Rahane's dropped catch of Shikhar Dhawan was not the first time a dropped catch cost an IPL franchise the match, as there have been many instances in IPL when a dropped catch eventually cost an IPL franchise the match.

So, in these articles we look at 5 of those matches when a dropped catch proved costly for an IPL franchise:

5) Rising Pune Supergiant vs Kolkata Knight Riders (26 April 2017)

Jaydev Unadkat drops the catch of Robin Uthappa.

Rising Pune Supergiant took on Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2009 at their home ground on 26 April 2017.

Sent into bat by Gautam Gambhir, Rising Pune Supergiant scored 182/5 in their 20 overs, on the back of a half-century by skipper Steven Smith and a quickfire 16 runs of just 6 balls by Dan Christian down the order.

Chasing a big target of 183, Kolkata Knight Riders lost pinch hitter Sunil Narine very early in their chase for 16 runs in the 3rd over. Knight Riders could have been in much more trouble had Jaydev Unadkat not dropped an easy catch at the deep mid wicket of Robin Uthappa, when Uthappa was batting on just 13 runs in the 7th over bowled by Imran Tahir.

The dropped catch of Uthappa by Unadkat, eventually cost Rising Pune Supergiant the match as Uthappa went on to score 87 runs off just 47 balls and added a huge 158 runs from just 85 balls for the 2nd wicket with skipper Gautam Gambhir who scored an entertaining 62 runs of 46 balls to lead Kolkata Knight Riders to a comfortable 7 wickets victory.

4) Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab (18 April 2014)

Glenn Maxwell was dropped on 37 by Ashish Nehra.

Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab faced each other in their first game of IPL 2014 on 18 April 2014 at Abu Dhabi in Dubai as the starting leg of IPL 2014 was played in UAE due to multi-phase 2014 General Elections in India.

Batting first, Chennai Super Kings put on a huge score of 204/4 in their 20 overs, on the back of half-centuries by openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum and quickfire knocks of 24 runs in just 19 balls by Suresh Raina and 26 runs of just 11 balls by skipper MS Dhoni respectively.

Defending 205, Chennai bowlers had Punjab's batsmen in all sorts of trouble by reducing them to 52/3 in just 6 overs until they ran into big hitters Glenn Maxwell and David Miller. The two destructive batsmen Maxwell and Miller added 111 runs in just 63 balls and took a special liking to Chennai spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Pawan Negi to completely stun the Chennai Super Kings.

The situation could have been a lot better for Chennai Super Kings, had Ashish Nehra not dropped an easy catch of Maxwell at short third off a reverse sweep when Maxwell was batting on 37 runs. To add more wounds to Chennai Super Kings, Maxwell was also dropped on 77 runs by Samuel Badree.

The two dropped catches of Maxwell proved costly for Chennai Super Kings as by the time Maxwell got dismissed for 94 runs in the 16th over the match was already gone from Chennai's hands as Miller along with George Bailey led Kings XI Punjab to a comfortable 6 wickets victory.

3) Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (6 May 2013)

RCB skipper Virat Kohli drops a sitter of David Miller.

This match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore is mostly remembered for the rise of South African batsman David Miller as the powerful and dangerous hitter of the cricket ball who could change the course of the match in just a few overs.

Put into bat by Punjab skipper Adam Gilchrist, Royal Challengers Bangalore put on a huge score of 190/3 in their 20 overs, on the back of half-centuries by openers Cheteshwar Pujara and Chris Gayle and quickfire knocks of 38 runs in just 19 balls by AB De Villers and 16 runs of just 7 balls by Moises Henriques respectively.

Defending 205, RCB bowlers reduced Kings XI Punjab 64/4 in 10 overs before they ran into a hurricane called Killer Miller. With Kings XI Punjab needing improbable 127 runs in the last 10 overs, David Miller launched a stunning counter-attack on RCB bowlers by scoring the third fastest IPL hundred of just 38 balls which included 8 fours and 7 big sixes and added an unbeaten 130 runs off just 49 balls with Rajgopal Satish for the 5th wicket.

Adding salt to the injury of RCB, was that their skipper Virat Kohli dropped a sitter of David Miller off R Vinay Kumar's bowling in the 14th over when Miller was batting on 41 runs. The dropped catch of David Miller, eventually cost RCB the match as Miller led Kings XI Punjab to an unlikely victory from the jaws of a defeat to leave RCB players shell-shocked.

2) Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Deccan Chargers (21 May 2009)

Manish Pandey celebrates after becoming the first Indian to score a century in the IPL.

This match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers is mostly remembered for Manish Pandey becoming the first Indian to score a century in the IPL.

But the flip side of the match is that, Indian fans could have waited for another year to see the first Indian to score a century in IPL had RP Singh not dropped a simple catch of Manish Pandey at third man off Ryan Harris's bowling in the 3rd over when Manish Pandey was batting on just 2 runs.

The dropped catch of Manish Pandey by RP Singh, eventually cost Deccan Chargers the match as Manish Pandey went on to score an unbeaten 114 runs off just 73 balls which included 10 fours and 4 sixes, thereby helping RCB post a respectable 170/4 in their 20 overs, which Deccan Chargers could not chase down and lost the match by 12 runs.

1) Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders (24 May 2014)

Yusuf Pathan scored a 15 balls

half century

to help KKR jump to 2nd place in the points table.

The Kolkata Knight Riders took on Sunrisers Hyderabad in an away game on 18 May 2014 at Hyderabad, knowing they needed to win by a big margin to jump to 2nd place in the points table in order to get two chances to reach the finals of IPL 2014.

Put into bat by Gautam Gambhir, None of the Sunrisers Hyderabad's batsmen could convert their good starts as a result of which Sunrisers Hyderabad scored just 160 in their 20 overs.

Needing to chase down the 161 runs target in 15.2 overs to jump to 2nd place, Knight Riders were reduced to 55/2 in 7.3 overs when big hitter Yusuf Pathan who was having an ordinary tournament came into bat with Knight Riders needing 106 runs in 47 balls in order to jump to 2nd place in the points table.

Yusuf Pathan made his intentions clear from the 1st ball he faced, by hitting a big shot of Karn Sharma's delivery which was going straight into the hands of Anirudh Srikanth at wide long on. But much to the disappointment of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Anirudh Srikanth dropped the catch. Adding more salt to injury for Sunrisers Hyderabad was that Yusuf Pathan was once again dropped on 15 by Dale Steyn off the bowling of Parvez Rasool.

Yusuf Pathan made Sunrisers Hyderabad pay dearly for those two dropped catches as he went on to score the fastest fifty in IPL of just 15 balls and took a special liking to Dale Steyn by hitting the South African speedster for 26 runs in an over.

When Yusuf Pathan was finally dismissed for a mind-boggling 72 runs of just 22 balls which included 5 fours and 7 huge sixes, Knight Riders only needed 8 runs of just 9 balls to reach the 2nd place in the points table which they achieved it, thereby dumping Chennai Super Kings to 3rd place and even went on to win the IPL 2014 by defeating Kings XI Punjab in the final.