WATCH: Axar Patel spills a simple catch to leave Hardik Pandya frustrated during 2nd ODI against England

England won the toss and chose to bat first during the second ODI match in Cuttack against India on Sunday. Openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett provided yet another amazing start with the bat to put the Indian seamers under pressure. Hardik Pandya was left frustrated after Axar Patel dropped an easy catch of Phil Salt. 

The incident happened in the final ball of the sixth over when Pandya bowled a short ball outside the off stump. Salt seeing width on the ball tried to smash it over the backward point region where Axar was stationed. The 31-year-old was perfectly positioned to complete the catch but saw the ball bounce out of his hands. 

Watch the video here:

Axar Patel dropped Ben Duckett's catch.#INDvENG #AxarPatel pic.twitter.com/s8eDpbpyGU

— Tanveer (@tanveermamdani) February 9, 2025

Hardik Pandya was on his knees in complete frustration as the chance went begging. At that point, Salt was batting on six with England having scored 44 runs from the first six overs. Fielding coach T. Dilip was seen looking at the lapse in the field with concern on his face after the catch went down. 

England get off flying start with the bat 

The visitors made three changes to their side for the second game after winning the toss. Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, and Jamie Overton were drafted into the side. Team India made two changes to their side as Virat Kohli came in for Yashasvi Jaiswal while Varun Chakravarthy made his debut in place of Kuldeep Yadav. 

The first four overs of the game saw England score 28 runs with both Shami and Harshit Rana conceding 14 runs each. Rohit Sharma decided to press Pandya into attack early and the Indian star would have made a great start if not for the catch being dropped. Salt added more misery for India when he smashed Shami for two fours in the next over. 

Ben Duckett got to his half-century with a single in the second ball of the 11th over. It is to be noted that India had won the opening ODI of the series in Nagpur by four wickets. If the hosts win the game on Sunday they will take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series ahead of the final game in Ahmedabad.