‘That was a game-changer’: Ravi Shastri on Suryakumar Yadav’s catch in T20 World Cup final

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri recalled the T20 World Cup final and said Suryakumar Yadav’s catch to dismiss David Miller was a game-changing moment. SKY took the most important catch of his career on the first ball of the final over, which was bowled by all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Yadav ran to his left, took the catch, released the ball in time, went out of the boundary, came back into the playing area, and completed a high-pressure catch. Miller was a big wicket as he was settled and India registered a thrilling seven-run win to break their major ICC title hoodoo.

“Oh Surya. It was under my nose, so I got a better view than anybody else. Because, I had the monitor in front of me and I was tall enough to just peek over to clear anything. Because that helped my commentary as well, Ian (Smith) was calling it, he said it and I said ‘When it went up, on the replay David Miller will not like what he sees because that catch is clean’,” Ravi Shastri told the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“So come what may, whatever people say, to hell with that, that was clean, nothing moved and I saw it with my eyes from 20 feet upstairs and then I saw it on the monitor as well. I think that was a game-changer because you know what David (Miller) can do. If that had gone for six, then suddenly it comes down to nine (10) to win. Another big shot and then the game’s in the balance. So I thought the timing couldn’t have been better,” the ex-India cricketer added.

Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav has been handed over the T20I captaincy baton after Rohit Sharma decided to retire. Yadav led India to a 3-0 series win against Sri Lanka and was also awarded Player of the Series for scoring 92 runs in three games.

India will next take on Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series, starting Friday in Colombo.