Suryakumar Yadav: 'I saw the World Cup flying away, and I latched onto it'

BRIDGETOWN (Barbados): It was happening just below the press box and wasn’t visible at first instance. While the world watching on television had seen Suryakumar Yadav’s incredible catch and were probably sure David Miller was out, those closest to the action just couldn’t figure out what had happened.
It had to be the replay, the wait, and the explosion of euphoria over the next few minutes that told everyone at the Kensington Oval that this World Cup might just be India’s.

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When TOI caught up with Surya as he was going back to the dressing room after signing a few autographs, the best T20 batter in the world said: “I really don’t know what was going through my mind. All I could see was the World Cup flying away and I just latched on to it.”

When great catches in Indian history come up for discussion, the first that comes to mind is the one that Kapil Dev took to dismiss Viv Richards in the 1983 World Cup. It altered the course of Indian cricket history, and Roger Binny, the highest wicket-taker of the 1983 World Cup and the current BCCI president, told TOI Surya’s catch was as good as Kapil’s.

“Kapil’s catch was magnificent in its own right. He had to run back, keep an eye on the ball and complete the catch, which he did with great ease. This was a case of incredible athleticism, where Surya was dealing with the variable of the boundary rope. We would have probably lost if he had dropped it, just as it was with Kapil’s catch. These two catches are on a par,” Binny said at the Kensington Oval on Saturday.

Captain Rohit Sharma isn’t one who likes to make comparisons. Rather he described his own emotions as the catch was getting completed.

“I was standing at long-off so I could clearly see Surya there. He is very calm under pressure, has got brilliant hands. The moment he took that catch, I knew he was inside (the rope). I was very calm, still, until the scoreboard said out...But I had already started thinking about the other five balls we still had to bowl,” he said.