New Delhi: Ashutosh Sharma and Mukesh Kumar were involved in a frightening mid-air clash while attempting a catch during the IPL 2025 clash between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians on Sunday. The incident occurred in the 19th over of the MI innings when Tilak Varma top-edged a delivery from Mohit Sharma to the off-side. The ball headed towards short third-man, where both Ashutosh and Mukesh went for the catch, but they collided with each other and missed the opportunity. Both players appeared to be in discomfort but after receiving attention from the physio, they were able to continue playing.
Tilak Varma dominated the mid-wicket boundary to finish as the top scorer with 59, his second half-century of the season, guiding Mumbai Indians to a competitive 205/5 in their 20 overs against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.
Despite the pitch showing some wear and tear, all of MI’s batters except for captain Hardik Pandya got off to good starts. However, it was Varma who capitalized with a brilliant 59 off 33 balls, including 22 runs coming from the mid-wicket area. He was ably supported by Naman Dhir, who remained unbeaten on 38. For DC, Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam were the exceptions, as the other bowlers proved expensive in their respective spells.
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Ashutosh Sharma and Mukesh Kumar collided while catching.#DCvMI | #AshutoshSharma #mukeshkumar
: Jio Hotstar pic.twitter.com/2F1CxNSwmS
— CricAsh (@ash_cric) April 13, 2025
Opting to bat first, Ryan Rickleton got off to a strong start, driving and flicking the ball for boundaries, and launching a massive 80-meter six over mid-wicket. After a quick four off Starc, Rohit Sharma also joined the attack, getting a six off a top-edged scoop, followed by a smooth square drive and a brilliant lofted drive, as MI collected 19 runs in the third over.
Following Rickleton’s boundary off Mukesh, Delhi Capitals struck when Rohit missed a length ball while attempting a slog sweep against Vipraj, leading to an LBW dismissal after a successful review. However, giving Mukesh a third over in the power-play didn’t work out for DC, as Rickleton pulled him for another four, while Suryakumar Yadav delivered his signature flick for a six. MI finished the power-play at 59/1.
Rickleton’s promising start was halted when Kuldeep Yadav’s googly shattered his stumps. Tilak Varma responded with some exquisite strokes, hitting boundaries with pull shots, reverse sweeps, lofted punches, and top-edges, while Suryakumar put on a sweep-shot masterclass, hitting four after four off Kuldeep, Axar, and Nigam. He also flicked Mohit Sharma for a boundary.
DC fought back in consecutive overs, with Suryakumar holing out to long-off off a Kuldeep googly, and Hardik Pandya falling similarly to Nigam. However, Varma led MI’s charge towards the end, lofting and flicking boundaries off Nigam and Kuldeep before reaching his fifty in just 26 balls.
Naman Dhir and Tilak added boundaries with hooks off Mohit, and after surviving an LBW shout, MI’s momentum continued. Dhir followed with consecutive fours off Starc, and Tilak added another boundary slicing over third man in the 18th over.
Tilak had a reprieve on 54 when Mukesh and Ashutosh collided while attempting to take his catch at backward point, and Axar missed an opportunity for a run-out. Despite Tilak’s dismissal to deep mid-wicket off Mukesh, MI had already surpassed the 200-run mark.
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