India Sets Unwanted Record for Most Catches Dropped in Champions Trophy
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Synopsis
India's fielding blunders in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand resulted in a record for the most dropped catches in a campaign, as they missed crucial opportunities to dismiss key players, ultimately impacting the match's outcome.
Key Takeaways
- India dropped four catches in the final.
- They set a record with nine dropped catches in the tournament.
- India has a low catch efficiency rate of 70%.
- Rachin Ravindra was dropped twice before getting out.
- Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill both missed key catches.
Dubai, March 9 (NationPress) As India and New Zealand faced off in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, the team led by Rohit Sharma might look back with regret on their fielding performance, having dropped four catches in the first innings. This lapse allowed half-centuries from Daryl Mitchell (63) and Michael Bracewell (53 not out) to help the Blackcaps reach 251/7 in 50 overs.
The Men in Blue’s four dropped catches have now pushed their total to nine for the tournament, marking the highest number by any team. They also rank third lowest in catch efficiency within the eight-team competition, achieving just 70 percent, better than only Bangladesh and Pakistan.
In contrast, their opponents boast the highest catch efficiency and are known as one of the most cohesive teams.
India had two chances to dismiss Rachin Ravindra, the tournament's top scorer, but failed both times. In the seventh over, Mohammed Shami nearly caught a ball when the left-handed batter sliced it to his left. Shami got a fingertip to the ball but couldn’t secure it, injuring his non-bowling hand in the process and needing attention from the physios.
Rachin was given another chance immediately after by Shreyas Iyer, who sprinted 21 meters towards deep midwicket but couldn’t hang onto the ball in an attempt to take India’s first wicket of the day.
Fortunately for India, these two missed chances did not prove costly, as Rachin was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav's first delivery in the 11th over after scoring 37 runs.
The next fortunate recipient was Daryl Mitchell, who saw Rohit Sharma leap to catch a tricky one-handed catch at midwicket, but the ball slipped through his fingers due to the speed of the shot. Mitchell ended up scoring 63, the highest by a Kiwi batter that day.
Following in Rohit’s footsteps, Shubman Gill dropped Glenn Phillips in the subsequent over. Running left from deep square leg, Gill dived and managed to get both hands on the ball but it eluded him, marking the fourth dropped opportunity for the Indian team.
