Exactly a month has passed since India clinched their second Men’s T20 World Cup in 2024, getting the better of South Africa in the final of the tournament at the Kensington Oval, in Barbados. No Indian fan around the globe could forget that stunning catch of Suryakumar Yadav in the last over of the game, which sealed the deal for the blue brigade.
India came into the last game of the competition, on the back of their unbeaten run, where they managed to gain six wins across the ‘group stage’ and ‘super eight’ stages of the tournament. They also got the better of England during the semifinal of the event, in Guyana.
The same story was with South Africa, who under the leadership of Aiden Markram, won all of their encounters coming into the final of the competition, besides the semifinal victory in Trinidad against Afghanistan.
‘I am very grateful’- Suryakumar Yadav on the ‘match winning’ catch
With the bat in hand, Suryakumar Yadav had a very good T20 World Cup 2024, as he managed to nail 199 runs in eight innings, at an average of 28.42 and a strike rate of over 135, besides celebrating a couple of fifties in the event, with the highest score of 53.
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Throughout the competition, there had been moments when it was required for someone to drill the runs quickly and the current T20I captain of the Indian team did the same. Coming into the middle order of the batting line-up, he smacked the bowlers all around the park to get those runs comfortably.
In the final, the 2007 champion side was asked to bat first on a slow surface in Barbados, where they went off to a flying start with three boundaries in the very first over, bowled by Marco Jansen, as Virat Kohli looked to be back in his old rhythm. However, the Proteas made a strong comeback in the game.
Keshav Maharaj sent back India’s most destructive batter of the competition- Rohit Sharma, the wicket-keeper batter- Rishabh Pant, while Suryakumar Yadav had no answer to the bouncer of Kagiso Rabada as he found the fielder in the square region.
Axar Patel and Virat Kohli put up a decent partnership of 72 runs for the fifth wicket, where the latter showed his class for a masterclass knock of 76 runs in 59 balls, with the help of six boundaries and a couple of sixes, to carry the team to 176/7 in their 20 overs.
South Africa kept on smashing from the start to the end. By as they reached the last over of the game, David Miller was still in the crease as 16 runs were to get out of the final six deliveries.
The first ball from Hardik Pandya was a wide one from the batter’s arc, who heaved it through the line towards the long-off region. Sky ran in and juggled it up as he was going over the ropes with the momentum of the catch. The cushion was near his feet, but he didn’t step on it, before completing the catch.
In a recent interaction with the BCCI, the batter looked back at the catch and expressed why it would remain with him ‘forever’.
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‘It will stay with me forever because I have done those things in my practice sessions a lot but I didn’t think it will come at that moment- World Cup final and that situation.’ Suryakumar Yadav expressed to BCCI social media.
‘I am very grateful for that to be doing something special, on a special occasion but yeah as you said, that will remain with me forever. It won’t be a one-month challenge or one-year challenge, it will be for lifetime.’ He observed.
Sky now has a bigger challenge in his hand, as he looks to seal the current T20I series with a 3-0 margin in Sri Lanka.