Ashish Nehra screams, then covers face in disgust as Gujarat Titans drop three catches in powerplay vs Mumbai Indians
Nehra so fed up by the GT fielders dropping catches that he covered his face while standing in front of the dugout when the third catch was dropped.
Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra was at his emotive best, like he mostly is, against the Mumbai Indians in a crucial IPL 2025 match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 6 (Tuesday). Nehra celebrated widely when India captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed early in the innings, but the former India pacer's joy turned into despair and then frustration when GT fielders spilt one catch after another in the powerplay.
He was so fed up by the GT fielders dropping catches that he covered his face while standing in front of the dugout when the third catch was dropped.
It started with Sai Sudharsan dropping a simple catch of MI opener Will Jacks in the first over of the night. Jacks was yet to get off the mark when he smashed it straight to Sudharsan at covers and he could not hold on to the catch. The dropped catch cost GT dearly as Jacks ended up as MI's highest run-getter with 53 runs off 35 balls.
Sudharsan, however, should not be blamed entirely for Jacks' runs. In the penultimate ball of the powerplay, Mohammed Siraj dropped an easier chance of Jacks after the right-hander had hit three boundaries off GT pacer Arshad Khan. He was batting on 29 at that point.
In between, Sai Kishore gave a reprieve to Suryakumar Yadav. The India T20I captain flicked a Prasidh Krishna delivery towards mid-wicket, where Sai Kishore tipped it like a goalkeeper, allowing Surya to take a couple of runs.
MI vs GT Live Score
It was after this dropped catch that Ashish Nehra could not control his emotions. He let out a loud cry and covered his face, casting a helpless picture.
Gujarat, however, fought back through their spinners Rashid Khan and R Sai Kishore (2/34) to grab control of the game in which Mumbai Indians crumbled against pressure.
Will Jacks survived two drop catches and hit a fifty and Suryakumar Yadav made a brisk 34 but the rest of the MI batters couldn't respond to the challenge, particularly skipper Hardik Pandya (1) and Tilak Varma (7).
An eventful first over from Mohammed Siraj (1/29) marked the start of the contest when B Sai Sudharsan took a fine low catch at extra cover to dismiss Ryan Rickelton (2) but dropped another at the same position when Jacks smacked one straight to him.
Rohit Sharma (7) was beaten a few times by left-arm pacer Arshad Khan (1/18), who kept it tight from one end. Eventually, Rohit fell to Arshad in the fourth over, mishitting one to mid-off where Prasidh Krishna collected it safely.
Suryakumar welcomed Prasidh (1/37) into the attack with two straight drives past the bowler but he was lucky when a lousy effort from Sai Kishore at midwicket saw a flick shot going through the fielder’s hands.
Arshad did well on his part but wasn’t lucky for a second wicket when a flick from Jacks went straight to Siraj at mid-wicket, where the India bowler dropped a regulation catch in the sixth over.
If not for those dropped chances, Mumbai would’ve lost four wickets inside the power play, instead they emerged the happier side with a score of 56 for two.
Both Suryakumar and Jacks made the most of those lifelines to put on 71 runs off 43 balls for the third wicket but their exit in consecutive overs saw GT’s spinners, with Rashid in forefront, applying the perfect squeeze.
