Follow UsWith South Africa needing 16 off the final over to win the T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya bowled a low full-toss to David Miller off the first ball. That ball would have sailed over the long-off fence had Suryakumar Yadav not showed the acrobatics needed to pull off a stunning catch and with that, he had effectively won India the World Cup.
Surya ran to his left, grabbed the ball inside the rope, released the ball, ran over the boundary and returned back on field to complete what many have referred to as the greatest catch of all time.
India fielding coach T Dilip says he is not surprised to see Surya take such catches as he does that quite often in practice.
"If you ask about Surya's catch, he would have taken 50 such catches in the practice sessions. But in a match, when that moment comes, it's his decision and the awareness of rope that's very important and knowing and the confidence that he throws it up and come inside, it's a decision making at the point of time," Dilip said.
As a result, Hardik Pandya gave away just eight off the final over to help India get over the line by seven runs.
Dilip also hailed India's ability to adapt quickly to different conditions. India played all their group stage games in the USA, including three in New York. However, they played in four different venues in the West Indies and won all their matches there.
"Irrespective of the condition... one great part about this team is that they adapted really well. For the different surfaces, and there's a wind always coming in West Indies, so they adapted really well and never let our intensity go," he added.
Following the final, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirement from T20 Internationals (T20I). They finish as the highest-run-getters in the format.
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