Axar Patel Smiles After Dropping ‘Best Catch Of All Time’, Sunil Gavaskar Reacts. Watch

India all-rounder Axar Patel dropped a reasonably regulation catch of England batter Phil Salt within the ongoing 2nd ODI in Cuttack on Sunday. The incident occurred on the ultimate ball of the sixth over when Phil Salt determined to take aerial route in opposition to a brief ball from Hardik Pandya. Salt went for the ramp and the ball flew straight at third man to Axar, who made an absolute meal of it. It was a regulation catch however the ball one way or the other popped out of his hand.

While Axar may solely smile on the missed alternative, Hardik was visibly disillusioned, and so was the remainder of the Indian gamers.

Axar Patel dropped Ben Duckett‘s catch.#INDvENG #AxarPatel pic.twitter.com/s8eDpbpyGU

— Tanveer (@tanveermamdani) February 9, 2025

Axar Patel Dropped Loli pop Catch, have a look at hardik pandya’s responsepic.twitter.com/NXNwhRVhM4

— Being Human (@BhttDNSH100) February 9, 2025

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who was on commentary, sympathised with Axar, saying that even the very best of fielders can drop such catches.

“Even the best of fielders can drop catches. But there it is. It was a simple catch, but the ball bounced out. There’s no explanation for that,” mentioned former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on commentary after one of many replays on the dropped catch.

After England opted to bat, openers Salt and Duckett gave them a superb begin. The pair placed on 81 runs inside the primary 10 overs earlier than debutant Varun Chakravarthy dismissed Salt for 26.

India made two modifications with Chakravarthy changing Kuldeep Yadav, whereas the returning Virat Kohli obtained the nod forward of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made his debut within the sequence opener.

England additionally made three modifications as Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton changed Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer.

England have added Tom Banton as a canopy for Bethell, who’s nursing a hamstring damage. The former KKR batter will arrive in India on Monday forward of the ultimate ODI.

England skipper Buttler mentioned throughout the toss, “We are going to bat first today. We have been pushing in the right direction, play better for longer and hopefully have a good day today. Looks a bit dry, with black soil. Looks a good wicket. Three changes, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Jamie Overton come into the XI.”

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma mentioned throughout the toss, “It was a good performance in the first game. That’s what I loved about. The energy was very good despite not being on the field for a while. It was superb to watch after losing two wickets. Shreyas prides himself on that intent and attitude and not to forget the contributions of Shubman and Axar as well. Black soil pitch, not sure. Maybe play on the slower side, that is what I expect. Two changes, Jaiswal makes way for Virat. Kuldeep is rested so Varun makes his debut.”