April 25, 2026 will be remembered as a record-breaking day in the IPL. 986 runs in 77.2 overs. Fifty-nine sixes, with almost three boundaries per over. A 265 chase, the highest ever in T20 history, was completed with an over to spare. Two outrageous hundreds from KL Rahul and 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, with both of them ending in a losing cause. For entertainment lovers, it was nothing less than a dream. But for genuine cricket lovers, it was a horrible sight. Anyone who understands cricket, it was a farce.
This was not just great batting or poor bowling. This was fielding that completely collapsed. Basic chances went down. Outfield work was casual. Situations were misread. And the result was predictable. Batters did not need to take risks when fielders were doing the damage for them. Yes, the batting that we saw from a number of batters was otherworldly, but the missed chances played their part for sure.
Both losing captains, Axar Patel and Riyan Parag, accepted it that dropped catches cost them the game. It wasn’t an excuse. That is a fact.
When you drop KL Rahul twice, you deserve 152
KL Rahul’s 152* will go into the record books as one of the greatest IPL innings. First-ever Indian to smash a 152. In fact, no other Indian has a better individual score in T20s now than Rahul’s 152 against PBKS in Delhi. However, it was his day (just not the result), with Punjab giving him two easy reprieves.
First, he was dropped on 12 by Shashank Singh. A straightforward chance but Shashank made a meal of it. Arshdeep Singh, the bowler, started to celebrate as the ball went up in the air but was stopped as soon as the ball went through the fielder’s hands. Rahul was dropped again on 51. Another moment where Punjab gave away luxury to Rahul. But Punjab let him bat, settle, and then dominate. He finished unbeaten on 152, the third-highest score in IPL history and the highest by an Indian.
You cannot drop a set batter twice in T20 cricket and expect anything other than punishment. Rahul added 140 runs after his first life. After the second, he added another 101. That is not luck. That is negligence from the fielding side. Even beyond the drops, there were misfields, half-stops, and a general lack of urgency. Singles became twos. Dots became boundaries. On top of that, some horrendous bowling from Xavier Bartlett and Vijaykumar Vyshak helped DC hammer 264/2.
How costly were the drops?
| Batter | Dropped On | Final Score | Runs After Reprieve | Fielder who dropped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KL Rahul | 12 | 152* | 140 | Shashank Singh |
| KL Rahul | 51 | 152* | 101 | Vijaykumar Vyshak |
| Shreyas Iyer | 28 | 71* | 43 | Karun Nair |
| Shreyas Iyer | 35 | 71* | 36 | Karun Nair |
| Cooper Connolly | 7 | 17 | Catch turned six | Mukesh Kumar |
Across the day, 16 catches were dropped. That number alone explains the 986 runs more than any discussion about pitches or power-hitting.
Delhi returned favour to Punjab
If Punjab were careless, Delhi were worse. They had 264 on the board. The game was theirs to control. Instead, they handed it away. Axar Patel’s captaincy wasn’t up to the mark, as he didn’t bowl out Kuldeep Yadav when he got two wickets and was looking good. Defending 264, you just need a couple of quiet overs and fielders not messing much. But everything went haywire from the first ball that Priyansh Arya clubbed for a maximum.
Mukesh Kumar turned a catch into a six by stepping on the rope. Another chance, gone. Earlier, a misjudged effort in the deep gifted boundaries. These are not small errors in a 260-plus game. However, the horrible episode came when Karun Nair messed up twice in a span of three balls.
Nair didn’t just drop chances; he dropped the match. He grassed straightforward catches to dismiss Shreyas Iyer. These were not half-chances or difficult efforts in the deep, they were clean opportunities that professional sides are expected to take every single time. Vipraj Nigam, the bowler, was left on the ground in disbelief, hands on his head, because he knew exactly what those moments meant. Everyone did.
At that stage, Delhi were still ahead, having taken Nehal Wadhera’s wicket a moment ago. Remove Iyer there and the chase collapses. Instead, he was handed two lives, settled instantly, and took the game away. Punjab do not chase 265 without that sequence. That was the turning point. Punjab’s openers were already aggressive, but poor fielding removed any need for caution. They raced to 116 in the powerplay. Once that happened, the chase stopped being difficult and became inevitable.
RR vs SRH game no different
Meanwhile, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi started the RR vs SRH with aplomb, hammering four sixes in the very first over. It came at the same time when Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab were completing the historic chase. But Sooryavanshi continued to make history on Saturday, as he hammered another century, this time, in just 36 balls. His fourth T20 hundred was stupendous, but even he gave a chance to save SRH, who spilled it. Aniket Verma dropped Sooryavanshi when he was on just 32. Every run from there on from Sooryavanshi’s bat would’ve made him feel horrible.
This game also followed the same pattern. Rajasthan did not lose because of bowling alone. They kept dropping chances and let SRH batters settle. It was a comedic start to Sunrisers’ run-chase as Dhruv Jurel dropped a diving catch on the very first ball. Jofra Archer was steaming in and Travis Head nicked one. Archer was livid but thankfully, Jurel redeemed himself by plucking one in similar fashion to end Head’s stay.
But Head was out, not Abhishek. The Indian southpaw gave two easy chances. One when he was at 4, the other when he started to punish the RR bowlers. Shimron Hetmyer missed one under the lights. That can happen but what Ravindra Jadeja did was unthinkable. Out of all the players, Jadeja spilled one of the easiest chances. Off Tushar Deshpande’s bowling, Jadeja dropped a sitter. Jadeja overran left, adjusted late, lost balance and control, spilling Abhishek’s catch at backward point.
Impact of dropped chances (RR vs SRH)
| Batter | Dropped On | Final Score | Runs After Reprieve | Fielder who dropped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 32 | 103 (37) | 71 | Aniket Verma |
| Riyan Parag | 6 | 7 | 1 | Nitish Kumar Reddy |
| Travis Head | 0 | 6 | 6 | Dhruv Jurel |
| Abhishek Sharma | 30 | 57 | 27 | Ravindra Jadeja |
| Abhishek Sharma | 4 | 57 | 53 | Shimron Hetmyer |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | 14 | 36 | 22 | Brijesh Sharma |
The biggest problem was not just one drop. It kept happening. And this is the pattern we have seen throughout the IPL 2026. Yes, there have been some outstanding takes, but the overall fielding standards have been secondary. One error led to another. Fielders looked unsure, and that spread across the side.
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