Everyones Heart Was...: Rohit Sharma On Suryakumar Yadavs Game-Turning Catch In T20 World Cup 2024 Final
India skipper Rohit Sharma has opened up on Suryakumar Kumar's match-winning catch In T20 World Cup 2024 final against South Africa in Barbados.
During the 20 World Cup 2024 final, South Africa needed 16 runs off the last over in their chase of 177, with David Miller on strike. Hardik Pandya came to bowl the last over and started off with a wide full toss that Miller launched down the ground.
Suryakumar ran to his left from long-off and grabbed the ball, before lobbing it up, going out of the boundary rope, and then getting back inside to complete the splendid catch.
India skipper feels that Suryakumar's game-turning catch under pressure at long-off was the moment of the title clash for him.
"Even after [the catch], the umpires sent it up to the third umpire and it was being checked whether Surya caught the ball or not, and everyone's hearts were in their mouths. I thought it had gone [for a six]. Because I was at [long-on], I was standing opposite Surya.
I was already thinking '10 needed off five balls', but then I saw that it's coming to Surya. It would have taken a blinder to take that catch. It would have taken a lot of effort to take that catch. Because when it was in the air, it looked like it'll cross the rope easily. But the way the wind was blowing, that pulled the ball a little bit into the ground I think," Rohit told JioHotstar in a video to celebrate the one-year anniversary of India lifting the trophy.
"I was standing with Surya when they were checking the catch and I told him 'You only tell me [if it was a catch or not], I don't want to look [at the big screen].
No, no I caught it.' But then I saw him on the side telling someone 'Maybe, I don't know. But I caught it'. And then they showed the zoom camera, and when the ball or feet touch the boundary rope, it moves, but nothing happened. So we were a little happy. But unless it comes on the board, you never know what the third umpire is thinking," Rohit said, recalling the catch," he added.
Rohit Sharma talking about the Suryakumar Yadav catch in the Final. pic.twitter.com/WYYUGSugYZ — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 28, 2025
The trophy win also meant Rahul Dravid had a happy end to his coaching stint. The 38-year-old Sharma explained how he convinced Dravid sir to stay on for one final mission after the 2023 ODI World Cup final heartbreak.
"Rahul bhai wanted to step down after the 2023 World Cup. But we said, 'There's another World Cup in six months. We've come this far. Let's give it one more shot.' He agreed—and I'm so glad he did. I'm sure even now he feels that he made the right decision," said Rohit.
"For me personally, it was also emotional. My identity as a cricketer began with this format—in the 2007 T20 World Cup. To come full circle and lift the trophy again in 2024 - it was just fantastic," he added.
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Virat bowed out of the tournament with a match-winning fifty, POTM trophy and the World Cup title to his name, passing on the baton to the next generation. He ended among the top three run-getters, currently third, with 4,188 runs in 125 matches at an average of 48.69, with a strike rate of 37.04, a century and 38 fifties. In 35 T20 WC matches, he topped the charts with 1,292 runs at an average of 58.72 with a strike rate of over 128, and 15 fifties. With two 'Player of the Tournament' titles in the T20 WC, most runs in the tournament, a POTM in winning cause in the final and joint-most fifty-plus scores, he retired as the most decorated and consistent T20I batter. During successful run-chases in T20 WCs, Virat averaged 173.00 in 12 matches, scoring 519 runs with seven fifties in 11 innings. Across all of T20Is, he has an unbelievable chasing record, with 1,651 runs in 42 matches and 39 innings, with 16 fifties at an average of 78.61. 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