Watch: Naman Dhir drops Krunal Pandya catch at boundary- Pandya smashes 73 to power RCB past MI in IPL 2026
A single dropped catch turned the tide of the entire RCB vs MI IPL 2026 clash at Raipur. Mumbai Indians fielder, Naman Dhir, put down what looked a regulation chance off Krunal Pandya.
Be a winner today!
Get the latest cricket updates, Join our community
Naman Dhir was an inch away from putting the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Raipur on bed. But he dropped a simple catch of Krunal Pandya at the boundary rope and got engaged in a heated argument with his teammate, Tilak Varma, who stood beside him.
Krunal was the biggest reason for Bengaluru staying alive in the contest as he kept nailing the big shots from one end, despite them losing wickets from the other. The surface required a set batter to take them home, and the southpaw was doing the same.
Naman Dhir Drops Krunal Pandya Catch at Boundary — Pandya Smashes 73 to Power RCB Past MI in IPL 2026
After a great 17th over where Deepak Chahar gave away only five singles and a wide, the pressure mounted over the Bengaluru side, especially Pandya, who was on 61 runs off 40 balls. Suryakumar Yadav, the standing MI captain, threw the ball to Allah Ghazanfar in the 18th over of the innings.
Watch the video here:
After a dot to start the proceedings, Krunal went for the big shot to release the pressure. The left-handed batter lofted the full ball towards the wide long-on, where Naman grabbed it near the rope. But just when he was about to cross the rope, he parried it towards Tilak Varma, who failed to grab the ball.
The T20 World Cup winner for India thought it was a six, but Naman didn’t actually touch the boundary. But dramatically, the batter didn’t run, and it eventually turned out to be a dot ball.
Here's exactly what happened and how much it cost Mumbai Indians
It was a mistake by Tilak, who didn’t watch the ball till the last moment. He should have waited for his partner to complete the process and held onto the catch. They paid a massive price for the wicket.
If the catch had been taken, Mumbai would have sent back a set batter, especially on a surface that hadn’t been easy to smash big shots from the very first delivery. Romario Shepherd, the new batter, on the other hand, would have been under tremendous pressure on the stage after Krunal’s potential dismissal.
RCB Win by 2 Wickets — Krunal Pandya's 73 Off 46 the Difference as MI Slip Further in IPL 2026 Standings
The RCB batter was already struggling by then with cramps. And the dropped catch gave him the license. He deposited the next ball over the long-on for a massive six before playing another lofted shot to clear the wide long-on region for the same result on the fifth delivery. He was finally dismissed on 73 runs off 46 balls, thanks to four boundaries and six sixes.
See Also: Hardik Pandya unfollows MI mid-match— deletes all posts during RCB vs MI IPL 2026 clash in Raipur
In a game where the result was decided on the very last delivery, those two sixes in three balls turned out to be a big game-changer. Had he not played those big shots, it could well have proved to be a different story.
Follow the RCB vs MI IPL 2026 Match 54 scorecard-
RCB 167/8 (Krunal Pandya 73, Corbin Bosch 4/26) beat MI 166/7 (Tilak Varma 57, Naman Dhir 47, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4/23) by 2-wickets.
Tags:
