Good the ball sat in Surya’s hand, else would have made him sit out - Rohit Sharma’s hilarious reaction to Suryakumar’s catch in T20 World Cup final
Team India captain Rohit Sharma passed a hilarious remark while sharing his thoughts on Suryakumar Yadav's game-defining catch in the 2024 T20 World Cup final against South Africa. Speaking in Marathi at a function in Mumbai, he quipped that it was good for Suryakumar that the catch sat in his hand, otherwise he would have dropped the cricketer from the team.
India beat South Africa by seven runs in the 2024 T20 World Cup final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados on June 29. Batting first, India put up 176-7 on the board and then held the Proteas to 169-8. The match seemed in South Africa's grasp with five overs to go, but India made a sensational comeback.
Heading into the last over of the match, the Proteas needed 16 to win. David Miller launched the first ball from Hardik Pandya towards long-off. The ball seemed to be heading over the ropes. However, Suryakumar did a brilliant juggling act on the boundary to pull off a sensational catch.
At an event held in Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai on Friday, July 5, Rohit took a light-hearted look at Suryakumar's iconic catch and commented:
"Surya just said that the ball sat in his hand. Good that it sat, otherwise I would have made him sit out."
There was some controversy over the catch, with some users claiming that Suryakumar's foot was touching the rope when the ball was initially in his hand. However, subsequent angles have made it clear that the Indian fielder had completed the catch cleanly.
Rohit's funny comment came at a function organized to felicitate four Mumbai players who were part of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad. Apart from Rohit and Suryakumar, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube were also honored at the event in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The CM also announced a cash reward of ₹11 crore for the Indian team.
Rohit and Suryakumar played key roles in India's T20 World Cup triumph
Skipper Rohit, who announced his retirement from T20Is after India's World Cup triumph, was the second-leading run-getter in the ICC event. In eight innings, he scored 257 runs at an average of 36.71 and a strike rate of 156.71.
Suryakumar also had a memorable tournament. In eight innings, he scored 199 runs at an average of 28.43 and a strike rate of 135.37. He contributed fifties in consecutive matches against the United States and Afghanistan and scored 47 in the second semifinal against England in Guyana.