The T20 World Cup 2024 final will always be remembered for Suryakumar Yadav‘s catch to dismiss David Miller. The India star danced around the boundary rope to grab a tricky catch that turned out to be the game-changer in the final. Though Surya got the clean chit from the third umpire, who did a thorough check on the occasion, there has been chatter around the topic on social media, with some people suggesting that his foot did touch the rope.
Suryakumar, in a chat with the Indian Express, has opened up on the catch, explaining how careful he was while catching the ball, ensuring his feet don’t touch the rope. But, there was a moment that the India star was worried about.
“Our fielding coach (T) Dilip sir has said that Surya, Virat (Kohli), Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja should always field at the hotspot areas, where there is the greatest chance of the ball going,” Surya said.
He also revealed to have practicised such catches across different ground during fielding drills. After his magical effort in Barbados, Surya has understandably received thousands of messages, most of which remain unread. The T20 star is grateful to have been there for those crucial 4-5 seconds that arguably defined the result of the match.
“The catch I took, I have practised it at different grounds, depending on the wind. I was standing a bit wide yesterday because Hardik (Pandya) and Rohit (Sharma) bhai had put a field for the wide yorker, and (David) Miller had hit straight. My mind was clear that kaise bhi karke pakad he lena hai (come what may, have to catch it). Rohit bhai usually never stands at long-on but at that moment he was there. So when the ball was coming, for a second I looked at him and he looked at me. I ran and my aim was to catch the ball, had he (Rohit) been closer, I would have thrown the ball towards him. But he was nowhere close. In those 4-5 seconds, whatever happened, I can’t explain. The amount of reaction I have been getting for that, people have been calling, messaging, there are more than 1,000 unread WhatsApp messages on my phone. The catch is all over social media. I’m grateful that I was there in those five seconds of play,” he said.
On execution, Surya admitted that he was cautious about not touching the rope while pushing the ball back inside the ground. Upon completion, he was confident that it was a fair catch.
“When I pushed the ball and took the catch, I knew I hadn’t touched the rope. The only thing I was cautious about was that when I pushed the ball back inside, my feet don’t touch the rope. I knew it was a fair catch. In hindsight, anything could have happened. If the ball had gone for six, the equation would have been 5 balls, 10 runs. We might have still won, but the margin would have been closer,” he asserted.
