India's Suryakumar Yadav.
Credit: PTI Photo
As many in the cricket fraternity celebrated the prompt catch of Suryakumar Yadav that sent South Africa's star batter David Miller back to pavilion, a closeup of the video was shared by a social media user on X claiming 'South Africa might have been robbed of the World Cup win'.
"This certainly deserved more than one look, just saying. Boundary rope looks like it clearly moves," wrote a user on X while sharing the clip.
It was the twentieth and last over of the ICC T20 World Cup when Miller struck the ball hard straight over the head of bowler Hardik Pandya— only to end his batting at 21 runs. Yadav ran through the boundary line for nanoseconds before he jumped a few inches and grabbed the ball.
After grabbing the ball, Yadav tossed it midair as his another leg was landing into the boundary. After a brief touch into the boundary, Yadav jumped back and instantly grabbed back the ball, which was later registered as a legal catch after third umpire Richard Kettleborough's review.
Some argued on social media that the boundary line might have moved before Surya's catch
As per Marylebone Cricket Club's (MCC) Section 19.3 titled 'Restoring the boundary' — "If a solid object used to mark the boundary is disturbed for any reason, then the boundary shall be considered to be in its original position."
The video clip posted by the X user who identifies as Ben Curtis sparked a debate that resulted in many netizens arguing in the comments about the authenticity of the video. Reacting to one such comment, the X user posted another clip which shows Surya printed on a player's shirt as he grabs the ball. Below is the video:
Another X user commented on Curtis's post with a video of the entire from Miller's hit to the catch and said, "here's a full render, zoom and rock&roll, all which can be done on a smart phone. Strangely, this tech, used time and again during this very tourno, was not used especially given the context. At 10 of 5 with Miller still on strike, those are different odds but we will never know."
The catch was taken when South Africa needed 16 runs to win from fewer balls. With pacers Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, and Arshdeep Singh— India ended South Africa's journey to the win at 169/8.
Disclaimer: DH has not independently verified the authenticity of the videos mentioned above.