CricDigs Blogs

Among all the big hitting witnessed in the on-going IPL, one thing that has stood out is the spectacular catching by most of the teams. Fielding has been brilliant, as it usually is these days but the catches taken have been out of this world.

I was just watching the first match today (Saturday, May 3rd) played between Deccan Chargers and Royal Challengers and saw at least 4 brilliant catches, the best being taken by Steyn to dismiss Afridi… which was probably the biggest turning point of the match. Steyn dove full length in front of himself and pulled it off while in the air and made sure he had both his hands between the ball and the ground when he landed. Such a catch taken by a fast bowler surely wins hearts!

Also, the one handed blinder that Yuvraj took at extra cover to dismiss a Mumbai batsman immediately comes to mind. Even though Punjab were on top at that time, such an effort always makes the game exciting to watch. And even though I was personally disappointed at the fall of a Mumbai wicket, the greatness of the catch did not leave any sour taste!

Of course where we have spectacular catches, we can sometimes also have controversies. Anyone watching TV would have bet his/her entire fortune on the fact that Smith’s catch to dismiss Ganguly was clean. Too bad that the third umpire did not think so! A couple of overs later, Ganguly was finally dismissed to another brilliant catch, taken by Kaif just inches inside the boundary by making sure that he doesn’t tip over the rope with the momentum. It almost seemed as if Ganguly was destined to fall that way!