Catches win matches is one of the oldest sayings in cricket. It was proved right again in Lucknow on Sunday night. Gujarat Titans were cruising in the powerplay, and with 164 the target, Lucknow Super Giants seemed to have a tall ask against the likes of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan. It was more so when Mayank Yadav, the star of the IPL so far, walked out as a precautionary measure. A bowler short, Lucknow needed a miracle. After Yash Thakur cleaned up Gill with a peach, Kane Williamson walked out for Gujarat. In a relatively small chase, Williamson is always excellent. He knows how to pace the innings and is one who wouldn’t take many risks. At the other end, Sudarshan was continuing his good form and Lucknow needed something to happen.
Enter Ravi Bishnoi. The ball to Williamson held up slightly, and he was a little early into the shot. Bishnoi was off balance when he realised that the ball was coming back towards him, and almost half a metre away to his right. Had he tried to move normally, he wouldn’t have been able to complete the catch. In fact, his only option was an improbable jump. In exactly 0.6 seconds of reaction time, Bishnoi flung himself towards the ball, and while doing so, stretched his arm with the rest of the body bent at 45 degrees. The jump had defied nearly every law of science. Body curled up for nearly half a second, Bishnoi managed to stay airborne as the ball landed in his outstretched hand. To everyone’s surprise, he fell having completed the catch. It was one of the best catches you would see and certainly one of the finest for this tournament. As he got up with his arms stretched wide, his teammates all ran in, for they knew something extraordinary had just happened. Gujarat were in shock, and with no David Miller there to hold the innings together, Lucknow were back in business.
For Bishnoi, it was the push he needed. With Krunal Pandya bowling beautifully at the other end, Bishnoi successfully kept things tight from his end and added to the pressure. In fact, within a matter of three overs, the match had changed and LSG were in complete control.
While one has to mention Thakur and his five-wicket haul, it was the Bishnoi catch that changed the game. A moment of brilliance that set apart the best from the merely good. Everything about the effort was actually imperfect. The jump wasn’t timed to perfection. The body was bent awkwardly. The outstretched arm wasn’t fully there to catch the ball. And finally, he didn’t manage to get two hands to it. And yet, it was perfect. The ball was in his hand, and as he fell, he managed to make sure it did not pop out on impact. For Lucknow, who had a 0-4 record against GT going into the contest, it was an effort that changed it all. It set up Krunal and it set up Thakur. And most importantly, it allowed KL Rahul a breather after an underwhelming batting effort.
We have seen many moments of brilliance already in the IPL. Be it the extraordinary hitting of Sunil Narine or the lethal yorkers of Jasprit Bumrah, the Bishnoi moment of brilliance will be right up there with any of what we have seen. Going a step further, it could have a telling impact on LSG’s fortunes and could well mean they make it to the play-offs for the third consecutive time. For the moment, let’s just say it is the catch of the tournament. To displace it from pole position will take nothing less than a miracle. And miracles rarely happen.
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