Former South African pacer Shaun Pollock shared his thoughts on the controversial game-changing catch by Suryakumar Yadav, which dismissed David Miller during the T20 World Cup 2024 Final between India and South Africa at the Kensington Oval in Barbados' Bridgetown on Saturday, June 29.
Suryakumar played a crucial role in India's thrilling seven-run win over the Proteas by pulling off a sensational catch that altered the course of the match. On the first ball of the final over, Miller hit a full toss delivery off Hardik Pandya towards long-off and out of nowhere, Suryakumar Yadav plucked the ball in the air before juggling it up as he was going over the boundary ropes. He then came back in to complete the catch.
Though Suryakumar Yadav garnered a lot of praise for taking that catch under pressure, Pakistani fans cried foul play that it was a six instead of a catch as they observed that boundary cushion was pushed a little behind from the actual spot.
However, Shaun Pollock shut down the conspiracy theory behind Suryakumar Yadav's controversial catch, stating that the cushion didn't move and lauded Suryakumar for his presence of mind.
"The catch was fine. The cushion didn't move but that's the course of the game. Nothing to do with Surya as he did;t stand on the cushion. It's brilliant bit of skill." former South Africa told Times of Karachi reporter.
When South Africa needed 16 runs off 6 balls, Hardik Pandya was brought into the attack and successfully defended those runs by conceding just 8 runs and picking a crucial wicket of David Miller to secure a win for Team India. With this T20 World Cup triumph, the Men in Blue finally put an end to their 11-year ICC and 13-year World Cup drought.
Suryakumar Yadav credits fielding coach T Dilip for his sensational catch
Suryakumar Yadav revealed that he was running towards the long-off to take that catch as he believed that World Cup trophy was going over the boundary ropes. The 33-year-old credited T Dilip for helping him prepare for the moments like this during the practice sessions.
"Now it's easy to say. But at that time, it felt like a trophy was sailing over the boundary to the other side. But yeah, in that moment, you don't think the ball will cross the boundary line and go for six. Whatever was in my control, I tried it. And wind was also a good factor at that moment and helped me a little bit." the flamboyant batter said after the win.
"And we have done a lot of practice sessions with our fielding coach and taken a lot of catches like this. So when it comes to a game like this, our presence of mind is very important," he added.
In T20 World Cup 2024, Suryakumar Yadav had a decent campaign as he amassed 199 runs, including two fifties, at an average of 28.42 and a strike rate of 135.37 in 8 matches.
