Follow UsThe Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi today was witness to one of the most outrageous catches at forward short leg in recent history as Sai Sudharsan, standing next to the batter with the helmet on, plucked one that was connected clean as ever.
Replying to the 518/5 dec posted by India, the Windies got off to a solid start, with both John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul looking assured and untroubled in the middle against the seamers.
That’s when Shubman Gill decided to introduce Ravindra Jadeja into the attack in the eighth over, and Campbell, who was on strike, responded immediately with a paddle sweep to the boundary off the very first ball.
Jadeja bowled another full ball, just outside off, next up, and Campbell went for the slog sweep this time around, and gave it a good whack. He connected it quite cleanly, and there was no paucity of power either. However, to his utter shock and horror, the left-hander ended up getting dismissed. Not because he got caught in the deep, but he got caught at SHORT LEG.
Campbell’s powerful slog sweep was connected perfectly, but, to his utter dismay, it somehow miraculously stuck in the hands of Sudharsan at forward short leg. The Indian No.3 batter was only looking to shield himself, but the ball hit the knuckles of his right hand and then fell right into his left hand.
Not just Campbell, but no one in the stadium could believe what had just happened. Everything unfolded in the space of half a second, and, just like that, the Windies opener had to depart despite hitting one of the cleanest shots of the game.
The catch came at a price for Sudharsan, though, as he immediately went off the field to get medical attention. Live visuals showed him getting his knuckles iced following the brutal impact of the slog sweep.