Why IPL 2025 Fielders Are Struggling

The Indian Premier League's 2025 season has seen fireworks with the bat and intelligent spells with the ball, but fielding has taken the spotlight unexpectedly for all the wrong reasons. Teams have dropped a whopping 111 catches in the first 40 games. That is a catching efficiency of a paltry 75.2%, something which has serious coaches and fans in a whirl.

Mistakes that ought to have been regulation have now turned into match-winning blunders. Second-chance cricketers who have been handed a chance have returned with big scores, turning the game in their direction. In the fast-paced game of T20 where every over and every ball makes a difference, such mistakes are an expensive business. Experts opine that poor positioning, the pressure of performing in lights, and deviance of attention when the stakes are highest are contributing towards this increase in drops.

The game is foreboding because a drop in catching efficiency does not merely indicate one-off mistakes—it indicates systemic problems in training, preparatory mindset, or even fitness to play. This IPL season is pointing towards fielding as a match-winning factor, and not as a sideshow. 

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Teams Bicker for Solutions as Playoffs Approach

With the teams reaching the business part of the tournament, correcting fielding weaknesses has been the focus. Teams are being retained for longer periods on catching practice, particularly under pressure conditions. Coaches are paying particular attention to reaction time, anticipation, and right hand-eye coordination drills.

In order to provide mental assistance to players, franchises also have begun recruiting sport psychologists who would assist the fielders in being mentally sharp and calm under delicate match circumstances. The target here is not simply to catch the ball but confidence that can ensure better overall fielding.

Powerhouse teams like Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru teams who specialize in lifting the game with their fielding are especially keen to correct these errors at the earliest. With competition intensifying and margin for error narrowing, fielding could well be the X-factor in deciding which team makes it to the playoffs and which does not.

One moment, one drop, one catch it might all determine the result of a match, and perhaps even the season.

Which teams have struggled the most?

The teams at the bottom of the points table are also the ones struggling to hold on to their catches. CSK have an abysmal 64.3% catching efficiency, while RR haven't done much better either. For CSK, some of those missed chances have cost them heavily: PBKS' Priyansh Arya was dropped second ball and went on to score a hundred, while RCB's Rajat Patidar was reprieved on 18 and scored a half-century. Both went on to win Player-of-the-Match awards.