Indian star Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed he believes his catch at the T20 World Cup final was 'fair'.
After needing just 30 from 30 balls at one point, excellent Indian bowling forced South Africa into a position where they still required 16 from the final 6 balls during their chase of 176 at Bridgetown.
The last over, bowled by Hardik Pandya, saw the dangerous David Miller on strike. At that stage, he was 21 off 16 balls and the first ball of the over - a wide full toss - seemed to be on its way for six until Yadav managed to pull off a spectacular catch along the boundary.
While the myth that the boundary was actually behind where it was supposed to be have debunked - the rope was in a different spot to previous games due to the pitch being used - replays have yet to conclusively reveal whether Yadav touched the rope or managed to avoid it.
Speaking to the Indian Express however, Yadav said he knew it was a fair catch, and that his foot never touched the rope.
"When I pushed the ball [up and inside the playing area] and took the catch, I knew I hadn't touched the rope," he told the publication.
"The only thing I was cautious about was that when I pushed the ball back inside, my feet don't touch the rope. I knew it was a fair catch. In hindsight, anything could have happened. If the ball had gone for six, the equation would have been five balls, ten runs. We might have still won, but the margin would have been closer."
Had the six counted, Miller would only have needed 10 runs off 5 balls. The task of 16 from 5 balls however was far too much for tail enders Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj however, with the Proteas falling seven runs short in the end.
The World Cup final also marked the T20 retirement of Virat Kohli, who was named player of the game for his 76 from 59 balls opening the batting.
