On his way to a record-breaking unbeaten 152 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on the 25th of April, KL Rahul was given two lives through dropped catches – once by Shashank Singh off Arshdeep Singh and once later in the innings by Vijaykumar Vyshak off his own bowling. These were two of as many as 16 catches that were grassed in IPL 2026 across 76.4 overs on the day.
According to ESPNcricinfo’s logs on catches in the IPL, these were the most catches dropped on a single day since 2018 (since ESPNcricinfo is maintaining logs on catches dropped).
However, that day was an outlier in this season: IPL 2026 hasn’t been the worst season in recent years in terms of catching efficiency. Until the 41st game of the season, out of the 476 catching chances created this season, 382 have been held.
At 80.25 percent catching efficiency, this season has been literally and numerically average: out of the nine seasons since 2018, this season sits right in the middle at No.5 after 41 matches. The worst, in fact, was the last season when the catching efficiency was 75.89 percent after 41 matches.
Rahul made the most of his luck in the innings against PBKS: after his first reprieve on 12, he went on to add 140 more runs in 60 balls. According to ESPNcricinfo’s logs these are the most runs any batter has added when reprieved in an IPL innings since 2018.
Virat Kohli hadn’t opened his account against Gujarat Titans (GT) when he was grassed by Washington Sundar off Mohammad Siraj off just the third ball of the innings. Kohli went on to score a match-winning 81. In fact, out of the nine hundreds made this season, five have come after the batter has been reprieved by at least one dropped catch.
And that has been the theme of this IPL. Batters have made the opposition pay for lapses more in this season than they have done in recent years. Out of 81 instances of batters getting dropped the first time in their innings, they’ve gone on to add 40 or more runs on a whopping 20 occasions.
At nearly one in four reprieves, it’s higher than any other season by far. The next highest being 2019 at 20.25 percent. In 11 of these 20 innings, batters have gone on to add 50 or more runs. This is also the highest percentage of innings in a season where the batters have added 50 or more runs after getting reprieved.
The only other season where batters added 40 or more runs more than 20 percent of the times was 2019. The rest of the seven seasons where we have data, the percentage of 40-plus runs additions after the first reprieve in the innings is below 16 percent. Moreover, a look at the median numbers reveals why this season stands out.
The median cost of the catches dropped in the season (runs scored by batters after the first chance against them went abegging in the innings) is 17 runs in the current season after 41 matches. This means out of the 81 instances when batters were dropped, in 40 innings they ended up scoring 17 or more. This is the highest in any season, after 41 games, since 2018. The 2019 season, which had the second highest ‘conversion’ in terms of 40 or more runs getting added after reprieves, had the median at just 11, 6 runs lower than the current season.
Moreover, the catching lapses seem to have cost teams in this season more than in recent years. Out of the 18 innings where at least one batter has been reprieved to score a further 40 or more runs, 14 have resulted in losses. The win-loss ratio of 0.29 is the worst for fielding teams in any season since 2018.
Delhi Capitals have had to pay the most for giving reprieves to oppositions. Three of their five losses have come in matches where they’ve dropped batters who have gone on to make a winning contribution. In the match against Chennai Super Kings, they dropped centurion Sanju Samson who added 63 in 26 balls once reprieved. Against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), they let off Abhishek Sharma on his way to a match-winning unbeaten 135.
PBKS managed the highest ever successful chase in T20 history against them after their two top scorers in the match were given chances. Prabhsimran Singh and Shreyas Iyer, who were dropped early in their innings, then added 63 runs off 22 balls and 43 off 15 balls, respectively. Apart from DC, Rajasthan Royals, SRH and GT are the other teams who have lost more than a game where the reprieved batter has gone on to add 40 or more runs to their score. PBKS are the only the team whose lapses haven’t cost them a game yet.
DC have been the worst catching team this season. They have grassed close to a third of chances that have come their way. They are the only team who are below 70 percent. PBKS, who are at the top of the points table, are the second worst. But clearly they haven’t dropped catches that have mattered. DC have.
It’s a popular adage in cricket that batters in form make their own luck, and that has played out in the season so far. Five batters have added 40 or more in an innings after getting reprieved more than once. They are Rahul, Kohli, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prabhsimran and Abhishek.
It’s no coincidence that all five also figure in the top-six run scorers this season after 41 matches. It’s no coincidence either that four of these five batters are from teams that are at the top of the points table. Rahul is the only batter among them whose team isn’t, but then DC themselves have been guilty of costly lapses one too many times.
