5 Instances when dropped catches were claimed by a fielder

Cricket is called a gentleman’s game and players are proud of playing as per ethics and rules. However, the game’s reputation has been tarnished from time to time, sometimes by teams and at times by individuals as well. 

There are times when players in the field goof up and do not know whether the catch they took, which could’ve turned the match around, was legit or not. Most of the time, thanks to advanced technology, players ask the umpire to refer to the TV officials to get a clear picture.

But even in this day and age of multiple cameras, some fielders knowingly or unknowingly claim catches they missed, or the ball had touched the ground.

Keeping this in mind, here are 5 such instances when the fielders claimed catches that they have dropped:

Rashid Latif (PAK) vs Bangladesh, Multan, 2003

Rashid Latif captained Pakistan in the Test series against Bangladesh in 2003 and during the third Test of the series in Multan, which is famous for the brilliant century by Inzamam-ul-Haq that saved Pakistan blushes of almost losing to Bangladesh.

The incident involving Latif happened in the visiting side's second innings when pacer Yasir Ali got Alok Kapali to edge one to the keeper. Latif dived to his right to pull off a spectacular flying catch in front of the first slip and celebrated with the bowler. 

But the TV replay showed that the ball had popped out of his gloves when his shoulders hit the ground, and the keeper grabbed the ball off the ground before turning towards the bowler to celebrate. 

6 years later, Rashid Latif himself admitted to a local Bangladeshi TV channel and said: “I dived to my right to take a Kapali nick. The ball dropped from my gloves as I rolled over, but quickly picked it up from the ground before claiming it as a clean catch.”

He further added that he felt he had done nothing wrong, but this proved to be his final match for Pakistan, as he was banned for five ODIs by match referee Mike Procter.