In most seasons chance goes down, the batter survives, dropped catches become footnotes but in IPL 2026 they are in the front and centre of conversations. Karun Nair put down Shreyas Iyer twice on Saturday and that resulted in the highest successful run chase. Delhi Capitals, in that match, spilled six chances in total, and the game drifted away. Washington Sundar, usually reliable, grassed a straightforward chance offered by Virat Kohli. Kohli, reprieved early, raced away to yet another half century and played a match winning innings for Bangalore.
An unprecedented 16 catches went down on Saturday alone. The numbers reinforce the lack of efficiency, that is down to 76% in 2026 from 80% in 2020, as reported by a website. That decline is not confined to inexperienced or fringe players. Even seasoned campaigners like Rohit Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal have had their moments. Which raises a more uncomfortable question: if it isn’t skill, what is it?
For Tanveer Jabbar, a former Chennai Super Kings scout, and batting coach of Tamil Nadu the answer lies in something less tangible but no less critical, which is engagement.
In an EXCLUSIVE chat with NDTV he said, “IPL has become a dog-eat-dog competition, where individual ambitions and personal gains often overshadow involvement, awareness, and playing for the team during match time. Too many players seem self-absorbed, and that affects their engagement in the game. Fielding, more than anything, demands anticipation and awareness – areas I believe need serious improvement. That can only happen when a player puts the team ahead of himself.
These are elite cricketers. They are here because of their skills and technique, so lack of ability is not the issue. Every team has a fielding coach, and they work regularly on fielding during preparation camps. Lights and ground conditions are no excuse to dropped catches. So the real issue comes back to game awareness and commitment to the team cause. I’ve seen Karun Nair take stunning catches before, so why does he drop simple chances? It’s about being switched on.”
It is a sharp assessment that shifts the focus from technique to temperament. In a tournament where attention is constantly pulled in multiple directions-contracts, reputations, expectations-the simplest skill in cricket often demands the most basic quality- being present.
There is another layer to this story, that Mohammad Kaif frames differently. For him, the issue is about The IPL schedule, that is dense and relentless, leaves little room for anything beyond recovery.
Training sessions are shorter, fielding drills often trimmed, and players move quickly from one venue to another.
IPL 2026 is a tournament played at extreme pace, and in extreme heat where physical sharpness and mental clarity are both under strain. A single missed chance here decides the match, perhaps the cost of it has become higher with each IPL season.
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