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Dropped Catches That Last Forever in Your Mind

Desi

Desi

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What are some dropped catches that you will never forget? Catches that potentially could have been match-turning and/or career saving? We know about the major dropped catches like Gibbs dropping Waugh at 99 WC. What about other devestating drops that are less talked about?

Some that come to my mind:

Razzaq dropping Tendulkar on 32 (went to make 98) at the 2003 WC. He was standing in too close from the fielding restrictions and managed to get some hand on it. Wasim had told him several times prior to this moment to stand further back and when this was dropped Wasim was vividly upset. Tendulkar went on to play one of his greatest ODI innings, and ended countless careers.

Sami dropping Sehwag on 68 (went to make 309) in 1st test during 2004 series. Hard to say if this would have changed the outcome of the match but it certainly ended Saqi's career.

What are some other drops that changed history?
 
Too many to count honestly, those two above for sure, but gilchrist quite a few times when we toured there.
 
Agree with the Razzaq one. He didn't jump the time well at all.

The Team Man (:yk) vs New Zealand in the 2009 Champions Trophy semifinal. I literally buried my face in the plate of fries I was munching.

The Team Man again in the 2011 WC semifinal along with Misbah and Umar Akmal's drop.

The Team Man once more against SA in 2013. He dropped de Villiers in the decider who played a match winning knock.

Sohail Tanvir vs Bangladesh in 2012 WT20. :sohail

Kamran Akmal vs R. Taylor of Shoaib Akhtar in the 2011 World Cup.
 
Pete Rose said:
Too many to count honestly, those two above for sure, but gilchrist quite a few times when we toured there.
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My memory is a little shoddy, can you give a couple details so I know what you're talking about? =)

@ Mamoon- I remember that 09 CT drop...as easy as they come. That semi-final too, how many times was Tendulkar dropped in that match, 4 times?

And oh boy Kamran! He has revived and ended so many careers!
 
Hehe, to be fair, Tanvir's drop wasn't game changing.
Even if it did embarrass me too much to go outside for the rest of the day.
 
Pujara dropping Cook on 17 at Eden Gardens 2012. Went on to make a double hundred and it lost us the series.

Of course, Cook was eventually dismissed in freak fashion.
 
Yeah, I think Tendulkar was dropped 4 times.

Younis, Misbah, Umar Akmal and ?
 
Gibbs in 1999, Younis in 2009 and Kami in 2011. All in global events.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Really cannot forget Akmal's two consecutive Ross Taylor drops in that WC game off Akhtar. Effectively ended the career of my second favourite cricketer.

I remember Tanvir dropping Jayasuriya in the first over of a T20 WC at short fine leg .. I think it was 2007? I don't know why I remember it, probably because it was such a sitter. Thankfully he bowled him in the next over.

I also remember a drop in a local club cricket semi (lol), first ball of the game dropped by our best fielder at cover .. I remember it in slow motion for some reason. Guy obviously goes on to make a hundred off about 20 odd balls and win the semi for his side.
 
I also remember the most overrated WK of all time (Moin) drop a sitter of Razzaq vs SL in a Test.
 
Mamoon said:
I also remember the most overrated WK of all time (Moin) drop a sitter of Razzaq vs SL in a Test.
Click to expand...

He use to drop catches regularly during his time. I still remember how everyone rate Rashid as much better keeper.
 
Amir dropping Ponting on 0 off Asif on our last tour of Aus. Ponting had a string of 0s and everyone had decided his time was up. After that drop, he made a double hundred and revived his career for a few more years. Match turning, career changing moment.

A few years ago Hafeez dropped Sehwag on the very first ball in the gully in an odi match. Sehwag went onto score a monster hundred. That was painful.
 
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akmal drops in world cup 2011

younis khan dropping taylor in champs trophy

gibbs dropping waugh anyone?
 
Kami dropping Morgan in the 1st Test in 2010 he was in his 20s and went on to make a hundred. Kami And Ross Taylor was pathetic. YK in the CT semi. And Mohali of course.
 
This one.
28.1
Mohammed Shami to McCullum, no run, dropped at silly mid-on! Kohli, that was a relatively easy one! It was fullish and McCullum went through with a drive even though he wasn't to the pitch of it. It went to the left of Kohli but he snatched at it with his left hand and doesn't hold on. Came a lot slower than he expected. How costly is that going to be?
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Waugh To Gibbs.

You've just dropped the cup Son

Epic.
 
I can always vividly re-live the Steve Waugh-Herschelle Gibs incident in my mind any time.

Kami's sorry face after he dropped those 2 catches of Ross Taylor is another one of those. Always bring a grin to my face. :D
 
Tendulkar dropped catches in WC semi final. Also Kamran Akmal dropping Ross Taylor of Akhtar in world cup, that drop may have kept Akhtar out of the next two games...
 
Tendulkar and Ross Taylor world cup catches. I will never forget those. I honestly believe we could have won the 2011 world cup if we held on to those catches.
 
Tendulkar WC 2003.:razzaq
Grant Elliott 2009 Champions Trophy :yk
Ross Taylor WC 2011 :kakmal
Tendulkar WC 2011 :misbah:uakmal:yk:shafiq
 
Mamoon said:
Agree with the Razzaq one. He didn't jump the time well at all.

The Team Man (:yk) vs New Zealand in the 2009 Champions Trophy semifinal. I literally buried my face in the plate of fries I was munching.

The Team Man again in the 2011 WC semifinal along with Misbah and Umar Akmal's drop.

The Team Man once more against SA in 2013. He dropped de Villiers in the decider who played a match winning knock.

Sohail Tanvir vs Bangladesh in 2012 WT20. :sohail

Kamran Akmal vs R. Taylor of Shoaib Akhtar in the 2011 World Cup.
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Absolutely read my mind....You have a Fabolous memory and recollection...no wonder you easily cram all those Medical books...
 
Tendulkar 2003 wc : razzaq tops the list for me. My heart was in my mouth when razzaq dropped it. I always love razzaq for that.
 
- World Cup 2011 Semi Final :(
- World Cup 2011 Pak Vs NZ - Kamran Akmal ending the career of Akhtar and then Ross Taylor providing the cherry on top.
- Australia Test 2009 - Kamran Akmal
- Champions Trophy 2009 - Younis Khan
 
Talk of the Game Changing Moments

Year 2006/07 . England visiting Australia after that 2005 Ashes.
Australia won first test of 2006/07 Ashes.But hey , That England Team had been treated and assumed as Super Heroes and they still could fight.There were four more tests still to be played.

And fight they did.

England bat first in second test and declares at 551/7. A considerable fight spirit to retain the Ashes.In reply , australia were 78/3 to a charged up England Attack.

And Ashley Giles dropped Ricky Ponting.A mistimed pull that Giles dropped in outfield.

A point of threshold after which England attack failed to muster up the spirit of fight they had sustained thus far.England surrendered and Ponting went on to make a demoralising 142 and Australia 513 and won thanks to England's Second innings collapse.And eventually to a 5-0 Ashes Regaining.

Since then , When I think of Dropped Catches and the Game changing moments , I wonder what it could have been had Giles actually caught Ponting that day.Australia would have been 78/4 with a new pair on crease and England might have not surrendered.Who knows....

Biggest irony is that Giles was selected ahead of Monty on the grounds of former's relatively better fielding.
 
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For some reason the one I most remember is Monty Panesar dropping MS Dhoni off Shaun Udal on Day 5 of the third Test in Mumbai, 2006. It was an absolutely suicidal shot that went miles in the air. The sun got in Monty's eyes, I think. He must have wished the ground would open and swallow him up.

Then just 3 balls later, Dhoni played an identical shot. Monty approached the ball from a slightly different angle to avoid being dazzled, and this time held on! 6000 England fans raised the roof. From 75/3 at Lunch India were now 92/7, and were quickly all out for 100, losing by 212 runs to what was on paper one of the weakest England sides ever to take the field.
 
For some reason I remember Saeed Ajmal dropping 2-3 easy catches in the same position that Afridi finally went and moved him elsewhere.

Can't remember what game it was, it was definitely a World Cup game, I thought it was the 2011 semi-final, but now I'm not so sure.
 
There are many.....

Shane Warne dropped KP in the 5th day morning of 5th Ashes test at Oval..2005

Sanath Jayasuriya dropped two consecutive sitters of Michael Vaughan off the bowling of Nuwan Zoysa at the first test at Lords in 2002 SL in Eng....after England asked to follow on..Vaugen went on to start his fantastic summer with match saving century.SL went on to start a miserable series which promised a lot with wonderful first 3 days of Lords even without Murali..
 
RagingJ said:
For some reason I remember Saeed Ajmal dropping 2-3 easy catches in the same position that Afridi finally went and moved him elsewhere.

Can't remember what game it was, it was definitely a World Cup game, I thought it was the 2011 semi-final, but now I'm not so sure.
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2010 WT20 vs England
 
Tanvir dropped an absolute sitter in the t20 match vs bangladesh! the one in which nazir scored 70 odd!
looked horrible...
 
2003 WC Semi Final

Aus vs SL

The mighty Aus were batting first and were 55 for 3. Symonds comes to bat, Jayasuriya bowls to Symonds, Symonds takes 4 steps outside of the crease, misses the ball and GONGAKKARA misses the stumping. Symonds will go on to score 91(highest) and Aus would end with 212. Also Sanga will go on to get man in form De Silva with a run out and SL will crumble to 123.
 
Younis dropping AB during the 2013 series in SA, when the series was squared at 2-2.

AB went onto make 95* and ultimately, win the series for SA.
 
YK’s drop in 2009 champions trophy semi final. What made that drop worse was the fact that YK is usually one of the safest fielders we have had.

Also the dozens of catches Kami has dropped.
 
It has to be Rahat Ali drop of Watson

That could have triggered the mercurial Pakistan in the 2015 World Cup. It wasn’t to be
 
Asif Ali's simple drop against Australia during 2019 world cup.

A hugely pivotal moment from a player who should never really have been on the pitch in the first place. Australia were on the ropes and Pakistan really should have beaten them. It was too early to know but Pakistan would have ended up going through to the semis if they won.

At least it produced one of the most iconic memes of all time though.
 
Rana said:
It has to be Rahat Ali drop of Watson

That could have triggered the mercurial Pakistan in the 2015 World Cup. It wasn’t to be
Click to expand...

The 2015 WC squad was lolbad and the match was meaningless in the context of the WC. Rahat's drop was anti-climatic though and Wahab deserved better.
 
One that sticks out for me was mushfiqar dropping boom boom afridi, the crowd reaction was hilarious people were literally crying.
 
Asif Ali dropping Warner in CWC 19, purely because I have never laughed so hard at a cricket match in my life. When the camera pans up to the bald guy in the crowd. I knew immediately that it would become a meme.
 
Kohli dropping McCullum on 9 in the second innings at the Basin Reserve when India were on course to winning the match and levelling the series.

Instead Brendon went on to score a triple century and it ended up being the costliest drop ever in international cricket. I believe Chris Scott's early drop of Brian Lara in his mammoth 501* in the County cricket remains the costliest drop ever..
 
Rahat Ali dropping Shane Watson in the WC quarter final when we were on top. If he takes that rather simple catch we would have most likely gone on to win. I still have not got over that dropped catch nor forgiven Rahat for it:fz Just for that reason Rahat should never play for Pak again so devastated was i.
 
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Azhar Ali dropping Kohli in the Champions Trophy final a ball before he was dismissed. Luckily unlike I thought at the time we got away with it without any damage done:hasan2
 
Jadeja dropped Alastair Cook at slip off the bowling of Pankaj Singh on the 2016 England tour and Cook went on to make 90-odd.

1. It revived Cook's career and saved his captaincy as he was desperately looking for one big score to overcome that horrible patch.

2. It ended India's chances in the match

3. Pankaj Singh was bowling quite well that day. His international career could have been a slightly different story had he got Cook out early and not went wicketless on his debut.
 
Abhilash93 said:
Jadeja dropped Alastair Cook at slip off the bowling of Pankaj Singh on the 2016 England tour and Cook went on to make 90-odd.

1. It revived Cook's career and saved his captaincy as he was desperately looking for one big score to overcome that horrible patch.

2. It ended India's chances in the match

3. Pankaj Singh was bowling quite well that day. His international career could have been a slightly different story had he got Cook out early and not went wicketless on his debut.
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Lol I was just thinking of this catch right now.

If I remember correctly, this was in the test after the Lord's test win and that was the moment when it all went downhill in the series.

P.S.: This was the 2014 tour.
 
street cricketer said:
Lol I was just thinking of this catch right now.

If I remember correctly, this was in the test after the Lord's test win and that was the moment when it all went downhill in the series.

P.S.: This was the 2014 tour.
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Yes, this was the 2014 tour.

India had managed to draw the 1st test (thanks to Stuart Binny lol) and won the 2nd at Lords.

But this catch was really the turning point and they got brutally decimated after that.
 
PakLFC said:
Azhar Ali dropping Kohli in the Champions Trophy final a ball before he was dismissed. Luckily unlike I thought at the time we got away with it without any damage done:hasan2
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Iconic moment.
Dropping the best batsman in the world; the batsman known for chasing down high scores; the batsman that had beaten us single handedly in every major tournament so far up to that point.
The thoughts going on in everyone's mind after that drop.
But the next ball... you just couldn't script that. Thank you Azhar Ali for that emotional rollercoaster.
 
Akmal in Sydney..End of.. that "so and so" should have been fired as soon as he got back to Pakistan but we still have to hear his stupidity in the media!!
 
the Great Khan said:
what about dropping tendu in the 2011 WC semi final? I think afridi dropped him!!
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Afridi caught him in the end. Sachin was out for 85.

He was dropped by:

Younis: 27
Misbah: 45
Kamran: 70
Umar: 81

Thanks a ton Pakistan!
 
Varun said:
Afridi caught him in the end. Sachin was out for 85.

He was dropped by:

Younis: 27
Misbah: 45
Kamran: 70
Umar: 81

Thanks a ton Pakistan!
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yes all mental midgets who should have known better..you could tell they were nervous and had mentally lost already..no jazba..
 
Most of the memorable ones have already been mentioned. The Saeed Ajmal miscommunication episode with Shoaib Malik is a classic though
 
Razzaq dropping tendulkar in 2003 World Cup off akram

Tenldulkar went on to score a match winning 90 odd and pakistan were more or less out of the tournament
 
Kohli dropping Baz is the worst. More dropping Gooch at 10 was also worse. He went on to make 333.
 
Zaz said:
Razzaq dropping tendulkar in 2003 World Cup off akram

Tenldulkar went on to score a match winning 90 odd and pakistan were more or less out of the tournament
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This catch gets talked about a lot here but that was a very tough chance. It was half a chance at best and would've been a difficult take for the best of fielders.

In comparison, the drops in the 2011 semifinal were sitters and the drops were far more criminal.
 
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street cricketer said:
This catch gets talked about a lot here but that was a very tough chance. It was half a chance at best and would've been a difficult take for the best of fielders.

In comparison, the drops in the 2011 semifinal were sitters and the drops were far more criminal.
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I guess but it was a match turning chance

If it had been taken the match potentially wouldve ended very differently
 
Varun said:
Afridi caught him in the end. Sachin was out for 85.

He was dropped by:

Younis: 27
Misbah: 45
Kamran: 70
Umar: 81

Thanks a ton Pakistan!
Click to expand...

What hurt the most was that 3 of those catches were dropped of Afridi’s bowling.
 
Gibbs dropping the WC probably the most famous and then for me the 3 dropped catches while Jimmy was stuck on 598 :))

On a side note, one of the most memorable catches I’ve ever seen (can’t remember which game) Inzi getting hit directly in the balls but holding on to the ball :yk [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION]
 
There was that moment where Ajmal and Malik were about to catch the ball and both assumed the other would do it. That was quite funny to watch.

On a more serious note, it's quite sad that almost all posts on this thread are talking about catches which could have changed the tide of the game. It just goes to show how poor our fielding standards were, and how poor they are today.
 
1) All of Sachin's during 2011 WC SF

2) Watson's by Rahat off Wahab

3) NZ's (Taylor?) by Younis Khan in the champions trophy

4) Taylor's by Kami off Shoaib in the 2011 WC

5) Mushfiq dropping Afridi and making the bangla girls cry
 
If Sreesanth had dropped THAT catch, I don't think anything ever would have topped it.
 
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