David Miller stood between India and the trophy in death overs once Heinrich Klaasen had departed. South Africa needed 16 runs in the final over and Hardik Pandya had the ball in hand. Miller hit the low full toss over the bowler’s head. The ball seemed to be going over the ropes but Suryakumar Yadav plucked one out of thin air and managed to pull off a sensational catch to dismiss Miller. After India beat South Africa by seven runs to win T20 World Cup 2024, there were screenshots shared on social media that the cushion was pushed back and it should have been a six. Reacting to the buzz, former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock said that the cushion had been moved but lauded Suryakumar for the match-winning catch.
"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," Pollock said in a video posted by Times of Karachi.
Suryakumar explains what went through his mind before taking the catch
After the triumph, Suryakumar revealed that as he approached the ball running from long-off, it felt like the World Cup trophy is going over the boundary. He also lauded fielding coach T Dilip for preparing him for moments like this. He pointed out that presence of mind is crucial as you are pushing the ball back in play before going outside the boundary and then ensuring the catch is taken cleanly.
"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. 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," said Suryakumar.
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