"Maybe you should have taken a bit more time"- AB de Villiers speaks on Suryakumar Yadav's controversial catch in T20 World Cup final
Legendary South African batter AB de Villiers has given his views on Suryakumar Yadav's game-changing catch in the T20 World Cup 2024 final played at Barbados. Suryakumar Yadav took a fantastic catch in the final over of the match to dismiss David Miller, which almost ended South Africa's hopes.
With 16 needed off the last over for South Africa, Hardik Pandya was tasked to bowl it and David Miller was on strike. Pandya went for the wide yorker but the ball ended up being a wide full toss. Miller skewed the ball high in the air and at one point, it seemed like the ball would go all the way before Suryakumar Yadav stepped in from long off.
Yadav took the catch but realizing that he was going over the ropes, he threw the ball up in the air before going inside the boundary. Then, he quickly came back inside the playing area and took the catch cleanly. The catch was referred to the third umpire, who checked multiple angles before declaring the batter out.
AB de Villiers speaks on Suryakumar Yadav's controversial catch
While speaking on his YouTube channel, AB de Villiers was asked about Suryakumar Yadav's controversial catch, to which he said that he doesn't care about the things in the past. He added that the team can only learn from the past rather than talking about it repeatedly.
"The game is done and dusted. I don't care about things that happened in the past, whether he touched the rope or not, or whether he crossed the line. I honestly do not care," De Villiers replied.
"As I watch the replay, I make peace with it, I walk outside, took a few deep breaths because I knew that the game wasn't completely done yet. We still had a chance. But then it's a past tense. There is absolutely no use looking at stuff in the past except for taking learning from it," the former South African captain added.
"Maybe you should have taken a bit more time..." - AB de Villiers
The legendary South African batter also mentioned that some more angles could have been checked but also agreed that the umpires don't have so much time. He expressed his satisfaction by claiming that it was the right decision.
"It was the umpire's call. If you wanted to be hyper-critical, maybe you should have taken a bit more time to make sure you cover a bit more angles, make sure you make a calculated decision. I do feel that it was the right decision at that time. You don't gave 10-15 minutes to look at the replay," De Villiers stated.
"Looking at the replay, I thought it was a fair call from him (umpire). Very difficult to look back at it now. It's done and dusted. The guys gave their best shot. India came out on top. Congratulations to them! That's the way I look at it," he congratulated India on winning the T20 World Cup 2024 title.
India went on to claim the T20 World Cup 2024 title with a thrilling win over South Africa. Virat Kohli was adjudged Player of the Match while Jasprit Bumrah was adjudged Player of the Tournament.
