India Has Dropped 12 Catches With An Efficiency Rate of 67.5 Percent, The Second-lowest Among All Participating Nations in The Asia Cup 2025

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India sets an unwanted record of dropping 4 catches of the same batter in any T20 innings. The Bangladesh opener and their lone crusader, being handed four lifelines by Indian fielders, on scores of 40, 65, 66, and 67.

Apparently, Indian fielders have been exposed to the harsh reality of taking catches under the light in the Dubai stadium against Bangladesh.

The Four Dropped Ctaches of Saif Hassan 

In the 12th over, Axar put down a tough chance on his own delivery. Patel tried to reach out with his right hand, but the ball didn’t stick to his right hand. 

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The 16th over, bowled by mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, became more dramatic with two drop catches of Hassan. The batter miscued a hit towards deep mid-wicket, where Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube converged to take the catch. Dube, distracted by Pandya’s approach, put down an easy chance despite the ball touching his fingers.

Wicketkeeper Sanju Samson dropped Hassan on the fourth ball of the same over, when the Bangladesh opener tried a slog sweep. 

In the very next over, bowled by Kuldeep Yadav, Hassan swept the 5th ball towards deep backward square, where the Indian opener Abhishek Sharma could not hold the ball properly. The most probable reason was the light in the Dubai stadium.
 
Saif Hassan’s excellent luck ended in the 18th over by a brilliant effort from Axar Patel. Jasprit Bumrah’s delivery was sent long on when Patel held the ball in the second attempt after a fumble.

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The Bangladesh opener scored a fighting knock of 69 from 51 deliveries with three boundaries and five big hits. Meanwhile, he became the first Bangladeshi batter to hit five overboundaries against India in a T20 match.

The Unwanted Record

In the ongoing tournament, India has dropped 12 catches with an efficiency rate of 67.5 percent, the second-lowest among all participating nations.  

Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka was dropped four times by Hong Kong, China players in the group stage match of the ongoing Asia Cup.

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About the India vs Bangladesh Match

India sealed their place for the 11th time in the Asia Cup final by beating Bangladesh and knocking out Sri Lanka. Supported by Abhishek Sharma’s blistering half-century (75 off 37 deliveries), India put on a total of 168 after losing 6 wickets. After 11 overs, when 200 was inevitable as India stormed past 100, Bangladesh made a grand comeback with spinners. India could only score 60 runs in 9 overs (between 7th and 17th), losing 5 wickets in quick succession. The last hitting by Hardik Pandya propelled India’s innings to go past the 160-mark.

Coming to chase, Bangladesh lost its first wicket in the second over. The mandatory powerplay (1-6 overs) saw a counterattack by Bangladeshi batters as they scored 44 runs, losing only one wicket. But India took control of the match in the middle overs as Bangladesh was reduced to 85 for 4 within 12 overs. The spin troika (Axar, Kuldeep, and Varun) claimed 6 wickets combinedly to fetch a comprehensive 41-run victory for the men in blue.

While addressing repeated catch drops, Varun Chakravarthy said in the post-match press conference, "You can't give excuses at this level. As a team, we have to definitely start catching those because we will be qualifying for the finals. We should be taking these catches, but definitely, if you ask me about rings of fire, it comes in the eye, something. It is a little bit of a disturbance." 

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