5 surprisingly great catches from fast bowlers in IPL ft. Reece Topley

IPL discussions often get relegated to batting and bowling numbers in the big picture among fans and even experts. Yet the old cricketing saying 'Catches win Matches' still holds and the result of most matches often comes down to the difference in fielding between the teams.

Over the years, the IPL has produced some incredible moments on the field with brilliant catches changing the course of matches. However, a close look at the top five with the most catches in IPL history - Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Kieron Pollard, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rohit Sharma paint a clear picture. Where are the fast bowlers?

Ironically there is no specialist pacer even in the top 30 of most IPL catches, which makes it extremely surprising when they pull off spectacular catches anywhere in the field.

With that said, let us look at the top 5 surprisingly great catches from fast bowlers in IPL history.

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#1 Reece Topley, IPL 2024

The most recent stunning catch came from England's left-arm pacer Reece Topley in the MI-RCB IPL 2024 clash.

Chasing 197, MI were going great guns at 135/1 in 11 overs, with Rohit Sharma well-settled. However, a moment of brilliance from Topley to dismiss the veteran batter in the following over provided RCB with a glimmer of hope to pull off the victory.

In the second ball of the 12th over, Rohit swept a full delivery on middle stump from Will Jacks. Topley at fine leg dove to his left and timed his jump to perfection to complete an incredible one-handed catch, much to his disbelief.

Unfortunately for RCB, the catch did not inspire much confidence as they surrendered meekly to lose by seven wickets in the 16th over to fall to a 1-5 hole after six games.

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#2 Sandeep Sharma, IPL 2023

Arguably the most clutch moment of the IPL came during last season's MI-RR clash at the Wankhede Stadium.

Chasing a mammoth 213 for victory, MI were on track at 150/3 in 15 overs, with ace batter Suryakumar Yadav going berserk on 55 off 27. However, Trent Boult bowled a quiet first half of the 16th over, forcing the MI batter to go for a ramp shot over fine leg.

The off-pace delivery from Boult saw the batter seemingly time it just enough until Sandeep Sharma pulled off a miraculous catch. From inside the circle, Sandeep sprinted back from his position and threw in a full-fledged dive to clutch the ball with his left hand to remain in control of the catch.

It was seen as a potential game-changing moment then before Tim David's heroics of 45 from 14 saw MI home in the third ball of the final over.

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#3 Mohammed Siraj, IPL 2022

It was always going to need an acrobatic effort on the field to dismiss Jos Buttler during his stunning IPL 2022 season and Mohammed Siraj pulled off just that in the RCB-RR clash.

Batting first, RR were 33/2 in four overs and looked to Buttler for another match-winning knock. However, the England limited-overs captain was undone in the first ball of the fifth over from Josh Hazlewood.

Buttler was cramped for room and miscued a pull that appeared to be falling just short of Siraj. However, he dived forward from mid-on to pull off a diving catch that set wild celebrations in the RCB camp, considering who the batter dismissed was.

RCB managed to restrict RR to a mere 144/8 but failed collectively in their run-chase to lose by 29 runs.

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#4 Trent Boult, IPL 2018

Trent Boult pulled off arguably the greatest IPL in the 2018 season to dismiss Virat Kohli in the clash between RCB and DC.

Chasing 175 for victory in front of a packed Chinnaswamy Stadium, Kohli and AB de Villiers settled RCB's nerves from 29/2 with a 63-run partnership. With the match slipping away, Boult provided a magical fielding moment to bring DC right back into the game.

In the final ball of the 11th over with RCB at 92/2, Kohli whipped a Harshal Patel full toss to the square-leg region and the ball seemed headed to its destination over the boundary ropes. However, Boult stunned Kohli and the home crowd by coming out of nowhere and sticking his right hand out to complete the catch with his body millimeters from the boundary cushion.

It is a catch that continues to live in fans' memories even though AB de Villiers produced another one of his vintage knocks, scoring 90* off 39 deliveries to help RCB win by six wickets in only 18 overs.

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#5 Jaydev Unadkat, IPL 2017

Not always known as the most athletic fielder, Jaydev Unadkat saved his best for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) against MI in the IPL 2017 final.

On a tacky wicket at Hyderabad, MI were struggling at 7/1 with Unadkat picking the first wicket off the first ball of the third over. Three balls later, the left-arm pacer dented MI further with one of the best return catches in IPL history.

Lendl Simmons played early to a typical Unadkat slower delivery, resulting in a leading edge that popped back towards the bowler. However, Unadkat on his followthrough dove left and completed a phenomenal one-handed catch to leave MI reeling at 8/2.

Despite a fine spell of 2/19 from Unadkat that restricted MI to a paltry 129/8, RPS wilted under the pressure of a run-chase and fell short by one run.