[Watch] "Cheetah ki chaal, baaz ki nazar" - Suryakumar Yadav passes fielding medal to 'guardian angel' after IND vs NZ semi-final
'Guardian angel' Ravindra Jadeja won India's dressing room fielding medal for the second time in the 2023 World Cup after taking three catches against New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.
While presenting the medal, Suryakumar Yadav, who won it in the previous match against the Netherlands, used a famous dialogue from the 2015 Bollywood drama Bajirao Mastani to hype Jadeja up, saying:
"Cheetah ki chaal, baaz ki nazar aur Royal Navghan's fielding effort se koi nahi bach sakta hai, kabhi bhi medal le sakte hai (Cheetah's speed, vision of a hawk and Royal Navghan's fielding effort - no one can save you against these things, they'll win the medal anytime)."
T Dilip, India's fielding coach and one of the chief organizers behind the fielding medal presentation, had nominated wicketkeeper KL Rahul ('navigator') and pacer Mohammed Siraj ('Mr. Energy') for the medal too.
He praised Siraj for putting in a good shift on the boundary line soon after bowling an over and Jadeja for not letting much past him at cover point. When Rahul's name was called up as a nominee before Dilip could say something, the 'keeper jokingly asked him to "just give the medal". But it went to Jadeja.
Jadeja joined Rahul and Shreyas Iyer as the joint-highest winner of the fielding medal in the tournament. Suryakumar, Virat Kohli, Shardul Thakur, and Rohit Sharma have all won it once each.
Don't need any creativity to show the fielding medal is a great thing this time, says T Dilip
Before Suryakumar presented the fielding medal, Dilip spoke about how making mistakes is okay and champion teams bounce back well from them.
This, according to him, was what India did on the field against New Zealand where there were several slip-ups and a drop catch too during the partnership between Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell.
"Till now we added a dash of creativity in all the league matches in how we announced the winners. Today's not about how we are going to do it but who and what we are looking at and I think the way we put our bodies on the line, the way everyone has committed, I don't think I need something else to show it's a great thing," Dilip said.
India won the match by 70 runs to book a place in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday.