Suryakumar Yadav took one of the most iconic catches in Indian cricket history, which helped the Men in Blue to clinch their second T20 World Cup title in Barbados last week.
With 16 runs to defend in the final over against South Africa, Hardik Pandya bowled a full toss first up and David Miller lofted it straight down the ground to give a mini-heartbreak to the Indian fans.
However, Suryakumar held his nerves and grabbed an incredible catch inches away from the boundary line at long-off. When the momentum was taking him beyond the ropes, Surya showed remarkable presence of mind as he released the ball before coming back to complete the catch.
After the watching the catch from a couple of angles, the third umpire had no hesitation in declaring Miller out, but there are some who continue to question the dismissal.
Claims have been made that the boundary cushion was intentionally adjusted and moved further back before Surya pulled off the screamer.
Meanwhile, legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has given a sharp response to an Australian newspaper's allegations regarding the legitimacy of Suryakumar’s extraordinary catch.
"There was also a question raised in an Australian paper about the fairness of the catch that Suryakumar Yadav took to dismiss David Miller in the final. All the replays were quite clear that SKY had done a marvellous balancing act as he took the catch and flicked the ball up in the air before he crossed the boundary rope and then jumped in the air and caught the ball within the boundary to complete a fabulous catch," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
"Nobody questioned the catch, but the writer of the article did. He may be interested to see the video floating around of the 10 most blatant cheating acts done by the Aussies before trying to point a finger at SKY. Pot calling the kettle black indeed," he added.
Earlier, former South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock refuted all the conspiracy theories and admitted that Surya’s catch was absolutely fine.
"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 told Times of Karachi.
Looking back at the T20 World Cup final, the Men in Blue had posted a stiff total of 176/7 on the board after opting to bat first, courtesy of good knocks from Virat Kohli (76 off 59), Akshar Patel (47 off 31) and Shivam Dube (27 off 16).
In response, South Africa were cruising when Heinrich Klaasen (52 off 27) was at the crease. After Klaasen’s wicket, however, they lost the plot as the Indian pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah (2-18), Hardik Pandya (3-20) and Arshdeep Singh (2-20) pulled things back in the last five overs to restrict the Proteas to 169/8 in 20 overs.
