The tradition of the 'fielder of the match' continued in the Indian dressing room as they beat ODI World Cup 2023 champions in the semifinal of Champions Trophy 2025 in Dubai on March 4. Fielding coach T Dilip named four contenders -- Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli -- for the medal. He called former head coach Ravi Shastri to present the award. Shastri received a rousing reception in the Indian dressing room.
"It's a pressure game. You are by far the best team in the tournament so far. Individual brilliance will only take you to a certain level but it is the collective team effort that will take you across the finishing line when champions play. Today two champions were playing, a pressure game, character show, team effort. Flashes of brilliance in the field always make a difference. Normally, it's the turning point," Shastri said in a video posted by the BCCI.
However, the Indian players were left in splits as Shastri said, "Dilip!". While Shastri searched for Dilip, he was standing right beside him offering the medal.
"And the heavyweight medal, it's heavy. It goes to Shreyas Iyer," Shastri said as he gave him the medal.
Iyer catches Carey short of crease
Iyer has been consistent in the tournament whether it's with bat or while fielding. He took the catch of Ben Dwarshuis but it was the run out of Alex Carey that helped India restrict Australia to 264. In the 48th over, Iyer came running from deep backward square leg, picked up the ball cleanly and hit the timber at the wicketkeeper's end to find Carey short of the crease. Carey departed after scoring 61 runs from 57 balls. Had Carey stayed till the end, the target would have been between 270-280 or more.
The contenders' effort in the field
The first contender was Gill who saved three runs with a dive in the first over and then the catch of Travis Head running in the outfield. Jadeja was lauded for his fielding effort off own bowling. His hand was bleeding after he was asked to take off the taping from his left hand. Kohli was another contender as he took the catches of wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis, tailender Nathan Ellis and helped India save a few runs. Later, he went on to score 84 runs and won the 'Player of the match'.
