S Sreesanth Was Known For Dropping Easy Catches: Robin Uthappa Recalls 2007 T20 World Cup Triumph

S Sreesanth made sure the 2007 T20 World Cup does not slips out of India’s hand by taking Misbah-ul-Haq’s catch at short fine-leg. With one wicket remaining, Pakistan needed six runs off four balls, when Misbah-ul-Haq wanted to chip one over the fielder inside the circle to find the fence. But unfortunately, he mistimed the shot off Joginder Sharma as it landed into the hands of S Sreesanth.

“In the air… Sreesanth takes it. India win,” were the words from then commentator Ravi Shastri as India clinched their first world title after the 1983 World Cup triumph. Top-order batsman Robin Uthappa was a part of the team and he recalled how Sreesanth used to drop catches initially.

S Sreesanth was known for dropping catches: Robin Uthappa

In the final over, Robin Uthappa was fielding at long-on, and according to his own admission was praying every ball as the conditions got stiffer in the final against their arch-rivals. As soon as Misbha-ul-Haq scooped one off Joginder Sharma he also noticed Sreesanth was the fielder where the ball was hit. Uthappa said he has seen the fast bowler drop plenty of sitter earlier and he was known for dropping easy catches.

“At the beginning of the over, I was at long-on. I remember Jogi bowling a wide on the first ball and I was like ‘man!’ I was praying. Every ball, from 15th over onwards, I was just praying ‘just get us through’.

“He bowled a wide first ball, and I was like ‘okay, let it not go for a six now’. Then he got hit for a six. And I was like, ‘come on, we can still do this’. Even in that situation, Pakistan had all the momentum going their way, I was backing our team,” Uthappa said on BBC’s Doosra Podcast.

“Misbah hit a scoop shot, and I saw it going pretty high. I noticed that it wasn’t going really far. Then I saw who the fielder at short fine-leg was, and I saw it was Sreesanth. By that point, within the team, he was known for dropping catches, especially the easiest ones. I have seen him drop absolute sitters,” he added.

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