Costliest Dropped Catches In Cricket

“Catches win matches” I know this is one of the most cliched statements in the world of cricket but the fact of the matter is, time and again we have seen it hold true.

Over the years, we have seen an outrageous catch completely change the course of the match and the series. The reverse is equally true.

Here’s a look at the costliest drops in cricket:

Also Read: Five Indian Cricketers Who Are Remembered For Just One Performance

Thisara Perera drops Rohit Sharma, Eden Gardens, 2014

Probably the costliest drop in the history of One-day International cricket; one that paved way for the first-ever 250+ score by a batsman in limited-overs cricket but also etched his history.

And, the culprit was Thisara Perera, who dropped a simple catch offered by Rohit Sharma when he was on four. Sharma would go on to add another 260 runs, shellacking the Sri Lankan bowlers to all corners of the Eden Gardens and etching his name into the annals of ODI cricket.

Kiran More drops Graham Gooch, Lord’s 1990

Graham Gooch was at the height of powers during the 1990 Test series against India. The former English captain racked up a monumental triple-hundred [333] In the first innings of the 1st Test at Lord’s and followed it up with another 123 in the second.

But, do you know, Indian bowlers could have been saved with the ignominy of seeing Gooch tear their bowling apar, had Kiran More accepted the caught-behind chance offered by the England batsman when he was on 36 in the first innings. More didn’t and Gooch duly obliged by creaming a triple ton.

India eventually went on to lose the game by 247 runs.

Virat Kohli & Ishant Sharma drop Brendon McCullum, Wellington 2014

Ohh Virat and Ishant, the two Santa clause that helped Brendon McCullum scale Mount.300 in Test cricket and under circumstances.

New Zealand were reeling at 5-94 in their second innings of the 2014 Wellington Test when Brendon McCullum proceeded to uppishly drive towards silly mid-on. Kohli decided to take the catch one-handed and in turn, ended up shelling it. McCullum was on 9.

McCullum offered another chance when he was at 34 but Ishant Sharma failed to drop a return catch. No more chances would be offered a post that as the New Zealand captain got his act together to script a match-saving partnership with BJ Watling and James Neesham.

For Ishant Sharma, it was the third instance of him dropping a catch and the batsman ending up cashing it big time; Michael Clarke’s 329 and Alastair Cook’s 294 remain the other two examples.

Chris Scott drops Brian Lara, County Championship 1994

Brian Lara was at the height of his powers during the 1994 season. During the season, the ‘Prince of Trinidad & Tobago’ not only broke Sir Gary Sobers’ record for the highest individual score [375 vs England] in Test cricket but he also proceeded to do the unthinkable by scaling Mount.500 in First-Class cricket.

Lara achieved the feat during a County Championship game against Durham but the left-hander enjoyed a fair share of luck en-route to the world record. Lara was dismissed by his West Indian teammate Anderson Cummins but it turned out to be a no-ball.

Then, on 18, wicket-keeper Chris Scott dropped Lara and considering his form, he allegedly turned to his slip-fielder and said- “I suppose he’ll get a hundred now,”

Shane Warne drops Kevin Pietersen, Oval 2005

An innings which not only established Kevin Pietersen as the gen-next superstar, but also ensured that England won the Ashes after a gap of 18 years.

Yep! That 158 by Kevin Pietersen at the Oval. But the result could very well have been different if Shane Warne hadn’t dropped the South African-born Englishman for 15 during the second innings.

Australia was just 95 runs behind England when Warne shelled Pietersen in the slip-cordon and the rest, as they say, is history.

Herschelle Gibbs drops Steve Waugh, ICC World Cup 1999

A dropped catch that proceeded to have whirlwind ramifications. Yep! That Herschelle Gibbs drop catch of Steve Waugh during the final league game of the 1999 World Cup.

Australia, who desperately needed to win to harbor chance of making it to the semi-final, were reeling at 3-48 in reply to South Africa’s 7-271 in 50 overs.

Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting started the rebuilding job, taking the total to 3-149 in 30 overs. The pivotal moment came in the 31st over when Steve Waugh, in an attempt to flick a Lance Klusener delivery proceeded to give a simple catch to Herschelle Gibbs at short mid-wicket

Gibbs, in an attempt to throw the ball in the air as part of his customary celebration, lost control of the ball and proceeded to shell it.

Legend has it that Steve Waugh told Gibbs, ” You’ve just dropped the World Cup mate”

Whether Waugh actually said it or not, we will never know, but even if he didn’t, the dropped catch largely proved to be the clincher for him and his team.

The Australian captain creamed a brilliant hundred to help his team qualify for the semi-finals. The semi-finals ended in a dramatic tie and Australia proceeded to qualify as they had won against the same opposition in the super-6 stage.

Australia were eventually crowned world champions after a one-sided final at Lord’s against Pakistan, kickstarting a reign that would continue for the next 12 years.