Former South African captain Shaun Pollock has dismissed conspiracy theories surrounding Suryakumar Yadav’s decisive catch, hailing his effort as brilliant.
Yadav’s catch played a pivotal role in India’s triumph, clinching their second T20 World Cup on Saturday.
Ian Smith labelled it “one of the greatest” in cricket history. Yadav’s brilliant effort, which won India the 2024 T20 World Cup title, failed to negate controversy hours after India beat South Africa at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
As Suryakumar was being credited for his stunning presence of mind near the boundary ropes to seal the victory for India, a fresh video from an eagle-eyed fan sparked debate as to whether South Africa were denied their moment under the sun.
The catch was taken in the final over, with South Africa needing 16 runs to win when David Miller smashed the ball over the bowler.
It looked destined to fly over the boundary ropes before Suryakumar intervened and plucked it out of thin air, then juggled it up as he went over the ropes, before managing to hold on to it with his feet millimetres away from the boundary cushion.
Third umpire Richard Kettleborough gave it a quick look and deemed it a legal catch as South Africa lost their last batting hope with Miller departing for 21.
Many on social media thought Suryakumar’s shoe had flicked the boundary cushion when he grabbed the catch at long-off before throwing the ball up in the air. A South African fan wrote, “This certainly deserved more than one look, just saying. Boundary rope looks like it clearly moves.”
Another social media post highlighted that the cushioning of the boundary rope was pushed back just before the catch. According to ICC’s playing conditions, it is the cushion and not the white line, as seen in the tweet, which is the boundary.
Debate is over, Miller’s catch was fine, the cushion didn’t move, surya didn’t stand on the cushion, brilliant bit of skill – Shaun Pollock pic.twitter.com/RnKiYAlYry
— Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) June 30, 2024
Pollock addressed the controversy in a video, stating, “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.”
