India's fielding medal ceremony which garnered plenty of eyeballs during the ODI World Cup 2023 has come back in a brand new avatar and the viewers saw the first glimpse of it following the conclusion of the T20I series on Thursday (December 14) in Johannesburg.
India's fielding coach gathered the entire T20I squad together after a convincing 106-run win in the series-deciding 3rd T20I to announce the change in the customary medal ceremony and informed the team that they'll be handing out an "Impact Fielder of the Series" medal after the conclusion of every series rather than handing it out post every game.
During the ceremony, Dilip announced the nominees for the prestigious medal, including Rinku Singh and Yashasvi Jaiswal among others, before declaring India's emerging pace sensation Mohammed Siraj as the winner of the coveted medal.
"I have been waiting to get my hands on this medal since the start of the World Cup and finally it has come my way. The lesson I have learned during this journey is that one should never give up," Siraj said after receiving the medal from the fielding coach.
Watch the medal ceremony:
Notably, India displayed remarkable grit after losing the second T20I in Gqeberha to come back from behind. They outclassed South Africa by 106 runs in Johannesburg in the final T20I to save a series loss.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav was the star with the willow in hand for the visitors as he smashed yet another T20I century and became the player to score the joint-most (4) hundreds in the shortest format of the sport, equalling Australia's Glenn Maxwell and compatriot Rohit Sharma.
The India skipper hurt his ankle during South Africa's innings and was helped off the field by the team physio. He never returned to the field of play as vice-captain Ravindra Jadeja led the team in his absence.
