Team India batter Suryakumar Yadav was adjudged the latest ‘Fielder of the Match’ medallist by India’s fielding coach T. Dilip after their 160-run win over Netherlands in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match in Bengaluru on Sunday night. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) once again announced the winner in an unique fashion with the groundmen at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium declaring the Mumbai Indians batter as the winner of the medal on Diwali night.

Surya barely had any time to make an impact with the bat – scoring a couple of the 1 ball he faced, but on the field, he stood out and made his presence felt. India’s fielding coach T. Dilip, who has brought memorable innovations to how the prize is awarded, called the team as well as the management out on the field and revealed the name of the contenders on the big screen instead of displaying it on the usual screen.

KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja were the three contenders for the award and a picture of them popped up on the big screen. As soon as Surya’s name was announced, MI teammate Ishan Kishan made a prediction that the right-handed batter would walk away with the gold medal.

The moment of truth came as people one after another started to raise placards to announce ‘Surya’ as the winner. The gold medal was presented to him by left-arm throwdown specialist coach Nuwan Seneviratne.

Dilip hailed Nuwan’s efforts and said in the video posted by BCCI, “Tirelessly working behind the stumps playing dual roles. But especially in the fielding he has been my right shoulder my everything.”

After claiming his reward Surya thanked the fielding coach and said, “He (Dilip) has been behind me since one year finally I think this is the reward.”

Dilip later revealed in the post-match press conference that it was wonderful to see the response of the fans to the dressing room medal ceremony on social media. “I think firstly, it’s truly heartening to see that the response at which the fans gave in social media. But the whole idea about this medal, what it represents is that the intent and effort, what the spirit you give, get onto the field, which may not be seen on the stats, but it can be felt by everyone who are in the stadium. So, what we look at is – yes, the stats, runs, saves, catches taken, is measured. But also, what value you give to the team is also counted. So, that is something, an encouraging factor we want to get into the test now,” Dilip said after the match.

India’s fielding coach also revealed when the idea of ‘fielding awards’ first started taking shape. “So, the whole idea actually started and you are seeing the medal in the World Cup. But this idea we started 4 months back, where we started to declare the best fielder award in the dressing room in every game. Just at the medal and we are able to see the medal presentation all over in social media now in the World Cup. But the whole idea was to make sure that we not only encourage or talk about that brilliant catch, but also the consistent performance in a 50-over game, which is very important because 300 balls, how you carry that consistency, whether it is catching or effort or intensity is what we want to get that important going. So that was the main reason behind getting this medal,” Dilip said.