Mohammed Siraj drops a dolly of Matthew Short on 53 off Washington Sundar’s bowling in AUS vs IND 2025 2nd ODI

Team India pacer Mohammed Siraj dropped a sitter of Matthew Short during the second ODI against Australia. The game is being played at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, October 23.

Matthew Short was well set and batting on 53 when Washington Sundar created a huge opportunity. It was on the fifth ball of the 29th over when Short played a cross-batted drive through the covers. However, he ended up playing it towards backward point.

Short sliced it towards Mohammed Siraj, who was stationed at the position. The ball went straight into Siraj's hands, but he was unable to hold on to the catch as it popped out of his hands eventually. It was a huge blunder as India needed the wicket of the well-set batter.

Watch the video of the moment here (3:40 PM timestamp).

Earlier, India batted first and managed to put up a competitive total of 264/9 from their 50 overs. Rohit Sharma (73) and Shreyas Iyer (61) scored half-centuries while Axar Patel made 44.

Had Siraj taken the catch, Australia would have been reduced to 139/5 during their chase at that stage.

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Mohammed Siraj makes up for error but is it too late?

India eventually did manage to send Matthew Short back to the pavilion. On the final delivery of the 36th over, Harshit Rana bowled a short ball that the batter tried to take on. However, he ended up handing a catch to Mohammed Siraj in the deep.

This time around, Siraj managed to take the catch at deep square leg as Matthew Short was dismissed on 74 off 78 balls. However, he added 20-odd crucial runs after being given a lifeline earlier. The runs were vital in the context of the chase, taking the hosts closer to the target.

While Mohammed Siraj may have made up for his earlier mistake, it may just have been a bit too late. The hosts were at 187/5 when Short was finally sent back. Needing just 78 more runs with five wickets in hand and 14 overs remaining after his dismissal, they appear on track to get over the finish line at the moment.