India won the T20 World Cup for the first time in 17 years after a nail-biting final against South Africa last week. During the contest, a catch by Suryakumar Yadav off Proteas batsman David Miller in the final over of the match played a crucial role in turning the match in India's favour. While many on social media had commented that the catch was perhaps the best piece of fielding that they had seen, others had stirred up controversy by suggesting that Surya had touched the ball while making the catch.
Later on, former South African cricketer Shaun Pollock had also revealed that Surya's catch was indeed legal, perhaps taking the juice out of the whole controversy. He said, “The catch was fine. The cushion had moved, but that's in the course of the game. It had nothing to do with Surya. He didn't stand on the cushion. Brilliant bit of skill,”
But now, in an interaction with the Indian Express, Surya has opened up about the high-profile catch during the World Cup final. He said Team India's fielding coach T Dilip had instructed that he, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja should always be in the hotspot areas where the chances of the ball going are highest.
On the particulars of the catch, Suryakumar Yadav said, “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," Surya added
Hardik Pandya bowled to David Miller, the last legit batter who could win it for the Proteas. Despite not being a great delivery, Pandya's full toss was hit by Miller, but Suryakumar Yadav steadied himself on the ropes, caught the ball, released it just as he went over the boundary and then came back in to complete the catch.
