Follow UsThe sounds of Long-Off, Long-Off coming from the mike of Hindi commentator Jatin Sapru of the Star Sports’ commentary panel still reverberates in the ears of the Indian fans, although it has been more than a year since India won the T20 World Cup 2024 final.
However, former Indian batter turned commentator Ambati Rayudu, who too was part of the same commentary panel, has now revealed that the boundary ropes in the second innings were moved a bit backwards, unintentionally by the world feed commentators.
“There were world feed commentators. During the break, what usually happens is they put a chair there and a screen in order to help the broadcasters see what is happening. That is why they pushed the rope backwards a little bit,” Rayudu was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
“But, they left it like that. That is how the boundary became a little bigger for us. We could see it from above. It was God's plan,” he added.
David Miller of South Africa had hit the very first ball of the 20th over by Hardik Pandya with great power. It looked like a six, but was eventually cut down by Suryakumar Yadav at long-off near the boundary ropes. Eventually, India won the match by seven runs.
It was dramatic in the sense that at the start of the 16th over, South Africa, at 147/4, needed only 30 off the last 30 balls to become T20 world champions for the first time ever. However, it came down to 16 off the last over as they could only manage 14 runs in the last 24 balls at the loss of two wickets.
Had Miller’s shot carried over the boundaries, getting 10 off 5 would have been an easier proposition. But would that shot have been a six if the boundary ropes were exactly where they were supposed to be?
Replying to that, Rayudu said, "I don't know if it was a six or not. If the rope had been placed in its normal position, maybe Surya would've run from inside. End of the day, God was with us.”
And as it stands, that catch was the catalyst to ending India's 12-year drought for an ICC trophy.