“I was absolutely inconsolable”: Abhinav Mukund recollects dropping Steve Smith in Pune Test after Arshdeep Singh drops Asif Ali in Dubai T20I

Abhinav Mukund recollects dropping Steve Smith: The substitute Indian fielder had dropped the then Australian captain twice.

India fast bowler Arshdeep Singh has been at the receiving end of immense support right since dropping Pakistan batter Asif Ali in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Fielding at short third man, Arshdeep couldn’t grab what would’ve been an absolute sitter. With the batter top-edging an attempted slog off spinner Ravi Bishnoi, all he had done was lob the ball towards Arshdeep.

Perhaps a bit casual due to the extremely easy nature of the catch, Arshdeep ended up committing a schoolboy error. Ali, who was facing just his first delivery, made the most of a reprieve by hitting a six and two fours in the next Bhuvneshwar Kumar over to play a crucial hand in accumulating as many as 19 runs in the penultimate over.

Having brought the equation to Pakistan needing only seven runs in the last over, Ali had played a titular role in finishing the match successfully to register their fifth-highest T20I run-chase, fifth-highest run-chase in Dubai T20s and the sixth-highest T20I run-chase against India.

Abhinav Mukund recollects dropping Steve Smith in Pune Test after Arshdeep Singh drops Asif Ali in Dubai T20I

In spite of his mistake, Arshdeep has been spoken against making the scapegoat for a 5-wicket loss. Arshdeep, 23, who tried his best to take the match to penultimate ball despite having just seven runs to defend, has received backing from his India and Punjab teammates, former cricketers and even celebrities from the showbiz.

Veteran India batter Abhinav Mukund recollected a personal experience of being “inconsolable” after dropping a catch at the highest level. Mukund, who played seven Tests for India between 2011-2017, was on the field as a substitute fielder when he dropped the then Australia captain Steven Smith not once but twice at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium half-a-decade ago.

Smith, who had scored a memorable second innings century regardless of as many as four chances by Murali Vijay, Mukund and Ajinkya Rahane, had led from the front in a match-winning knock. Mukund, whose fielding had played a part in a lost Test (only one in eight years for India at home) after an embarrassing batting collapse, hoped for “gutted” Arshdeep to not be feeling like he did back in the day.

India are slated to face Sri Lanka in their next match on Tuesday.