5 catches that changed Indian cricket forever

#3 Yuvraj Singh vs. South Africa (2002)

Yuvraj Singh is one of the best fielders India has ever produced

India took on South Africa in the first semi-final encounter of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy at the R. Premadasa Stadium (RPS) in Colombo. The Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who had won the toss decided to have a go with the bat first and set the Proteas a mammoth target. The ‘Men in Blue’ had gone on to post a formidable 261 runs on the board courtesy Virender Sehwag’s 59 and Yuvraj Singh’s 62.

In reply, the South Africans were poised to dance into the finals as their score stood at 192 for 1 at one stage after losing the early wicket of Graeme Smith. Thanks to Herschelle Gibbs’ 116 and Jacques Kallis’ 97, the Proteas just needed 68 runs to win the match in 71 balls with 9 wickets remaining. However, lady luck was with India as dehydration took toll on Gibbs as he had to retire hurt momentarily.

The batsman to follow however failed to guide the ship home as the momentum turned on its when Jonty Rhodes mistimed a sweep off a Harbhajan Singh delivery and Yuvraj Singh completed a stunning diving catch to give the Men in Blue hope.

The entire match turned on its head after the dismissal as the South Africans went on to lose wickets at regular intervals to finish their innings at 251 for 6. Later, India went on to win the trophy jointly with Sri Lanka, after both the final and the reserve day was washed out due to rain.