They say "catches win matches" and the points table of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) proves the adage right. Bottom-dwellers Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) testify to the fact that there is a significant positive correlation between effective fielding and a team's likelihood of victory.
The teams that are languishing at the bottom of the table are the ones with the highest number of dropped chances. The beleaguered CSK, who occupy the last place on the 10-team table, have an abysmally low 64.3 percent catching efficiency so far this season.
Although the CSK fielders spilled several catches in the eight matches they have played so far, one dropped chance, in particular, came back to haunt them. During their 18-run defeat to Punjab Kings, they dropped opener Priyansh Arya early in the innings, and the youngster turned the game around with with a scorching century,
Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Paridar also made CSK pay heavily for dropping him when he was on 18. Patidar, capitalising on that chance, blazed his way to a 32-ball 51. Remarkably, Arya and Patidar were adjudged Player of the Match in the respective matches.
RR, who are placed 8th on the table by virtue of a better run-rate, are just above CSK with a catch efficiency of 70.5 percent.
Mumbai Indians, who revived their campaign with three wins on the spin, top the fielding charts with a catch efficiency of 83.3 percent.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), despite losing five of their seven matches, have fared well when it comes to fielding. They have a catch efficiency of 82.4 percent while the third-placed RCB's catch efficiency is 80.9 percent.
Among the players who have had four or more catching chances, Punjab's Yuzvendra Chahal and CSK's Vijay Shankar spilled the most.
Out of five catching opportunities, Chahal and Shankar have dropped three each. Chahal was left to rue a chance offered by SRH's opener Abhishek Sharma when the latter was batting on 57. The young southpaw went on to etch his name in IPL history with a blistering 141 off 55 balls, the highest individual score by an Indian in the league.
While looking at specific venues where the highest number of catches have been dropped, Jaipur holds to top spot. The venue has seen 12 dropped catches, and interestingly, there were only nine completed catches at RR's home ground.
Among batters, Arya and RR's Shimron Hetmyer have been the luckiest as both of them were being dropped five times each so far this season.