India cricketer Suryakumar Yadav talks about his title-winning catch of David Miller in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 on Saturday (June 29). India won the final by 7 runs to end their 11-year trophy drought.

When Suryakumar noticed that Rohit Sharma was farther away from the ball at long-on than he was at long-off, he claimed to have taken the snap decision to go all out for the catch.

"Rohit bhai usually never stands at long-on but at that moment he was there. So when the ball was coming, for a second I looked at him and he looked at me. I ran and my aim was to catch the ball. Had he [Rohit] been closer, I would have thrown the ball towards him. But he was nowhere close. In those four to five seconds, whatever happened, I can't explain,” Suryakumar told the Indian Express.

"The amount of reaction I have been getting for that, people have been calling, messaging; there are more than 1,000 unread WhatsApp messages on my phone. The catch is all over social media. I'm grateful that I was there in those five seconds of play.”

Although Suryakumar's catch appeared clean in the initial replays, additional online evidence revealed that he might have touched the boundary rope. Nonetheless, Suryakumar remembered every single aspect of the capture.

"When I pushed the ball and took the catch, I knew I hadn't touched the rope. The only thing I was cautious about was that when I pushed the ball back inside, my feet don't touch the rope. I knew it was a fair catch. In hindsight, anything could have happened. If the ball had gone for six, the equation would have been five balls, ten runs. We might have still won, but the margin would have been closer,” he added.

When asked about his inspiration, Yadav brought up the introduction of a fielding medal by fielding coach T Dilip, which encouraged players to go above and beyond in every game. "The catch I took, I have practiced it at different grounds, depending on the wind. I was standing a bit wide because Hardik [Pandya] and Rohit bhai had put a field for the wide yorker, and Miller had hit straight. My mind was clear that I have to catch it come what may,” he further said.

"A day before the game, we do a quality fielding session where for 10-12 minutes, we have more than ten high catches, flat catches, direct hits, slip catching. It's not a one-day exercise, I practice these kinds of catches during IPL, during bilateral series. Yesterday's catch was the reward of the hard work done over the years."