Shades of the artful dodger in Suryakumar Yadav’s match-defining catch

Suryakumar Yadav's catch turned the final around in favour of Team India. (PTI Pic)

The phrase ‘artful dodger’ is a famous one in cricket. It refers to Sid Barnes of Australia, who played in long-ago times. A revered writer named Ray Robinson had used those word about him, which became famous and eventually gained immortality in cricket writing.

What Suryakumar Yadav pulled off in the final over of the T20 World Cup final will surpass that. He dodged the boundary rope not once, but twice, to hold a catch that ended India’s long wait for an ICC trophy and sealed the fate of a high-intensity show.

First, he evaded contact with the fence while half-catching that ball and going out of the playing arena to balance his body. He then came leaping back in to complete the act, making sure that his boot didn’t touch the rope. It was a ballet dancer’s delight of a performance in terms of footwork.

We have seen similar catches in T20 cricket, many times in the Indian Premier League. That way, it was not path-breaking. However, taking into account the context and perspective, it was undoubtedly the most important and spectacular catch in the history of cricket World Cup finals, 50 and 20 overs. Kapil Dev’s effort to send back Viv Richards in 1983 was hitherto the most dramatic one. The Surya one surpassed that because it came in the last over of a match which South Africa looked like winning.

This was poetry and prose at the same time. It was lyrical for the physical movement of the human body twisting, twirling and holding the balance in one continuous motion without any jerk. The harsh and hard part was the presence of mind. Surya knew that what he was trying to do was extremely difficult and then showed the steel and poise to grab it. This was as inhuman an effort as one will see in a cricket match of such consequence, between countries from contrasting continents and sentiments.

The first act of dodging was mesmerising enough. He just about found that perfect footing, weighing every ounce of his body with unbelievable understanding. To come back with just the adequate amount of spring in his feet and then catch it back avoiding contact with the boundary line was superhuman, considering the circumstances and implications.

Surya not only dodged and pushed the limits. He defied imagination. An artful act defined by bravery and on-the-spot intelligence, one won’t see this every now and then. It was a supremely aesthetic and acrobatic act for the ages, which helped Indian cricket end a wait of more than a decade.

In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz