Former India player turned commentator Aakash Chopra has said that the catch Suryakumar Yadav grabbed in the 2024 T20 World Cup final would have been legal even if the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) new fielding laws had been in place at that time. However, he also added that a few other catches, like the one Michael Neser took in a Big Bash League (BBL) game, will no longer be valid as well. His comments came as the ICC recently changed a few laws across formats as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Neser took a catch by going behind the ropes and doing a bunny hop, and we all said ‘Wow, what a catch.’ He was not alone. After that, (Glenn) Maxwell also took one catch, and there are a lot more, but it won’t happen now. The ICC have changed the laws. This bunny hop thing is not allowed. So was Surya’s catch of David Miller in the final legal as per today’s rules?”
“When you take the catch, your first contact is from within the ground. However, then when you jump in the air and hit the ball, the second contact with the ball should bring you back into the playing field. That’s why the Neser catch will not be legal. SKY’s catch was legal even with the new rules,” he again shared.
ALSO READ: “I did get a couple of hints” – AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli’s Test retirement
However, Aakash Chopra also stated that the ODI format has seen the most law changes in recent times, saying that the format seems to be very different from the one in Sachin Tendulkar’s era as well.
“If any format has seen the most law changes, it’s ODI. You feel the format was different when Sachin paaji played ODIs because so many changes have been made after that. The impact sub (in the IPL) has come now, but a Super Sub had come earlier. The field restriction rules have been changed 25 times,” he said.
“A new rule change that has come now is that when the match starts, there will be two new balls, but once 17 overs each are bowled with both balls, you will be asked which ball you want to bowl the 35th over with. You will bowl all the remaining overs with the ball you choose. They are trying to get a little parity between bat and ball as the bat dominates a little more if you play with two balls,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
