Watch: An incredible “bicycle kick” catch in a local tennis-ball tournament in India has caught the attention of prominent names in the cricketing world, including Michael Vaughan, who termed it “the greatest catch of all time”.

According to a video doing the rounds on social media, a certain Kiran Tarlekar – while playing in a district-level tennis-ball competition in Belgaum, Karnataka – pulled off an overhead kick to keep the ball in play, a sight surely never seen in cricket before.

In a match between SRS Hindustan and Sairaj A in the Shree Chashak – 2023, Tarlekar, stationed at the deep midwicket fence, was seen jumping high and snaffling the ball, before landing back inside the ropes. Still unbalanced, he flicked the ball back up and before jumping outside the field of play, positioning himself for the most spectacular bit of the fielding effort: a leaping, overhead kick that hit the ball back into play, with his teammate running in and completing a catch.

On Twitter, there were several reactions to the video, including from Sachin Tendulkar, who reshared the video with the caption: “This is what happens when you bring a guy who also knows how to play football!!”

Boundary catches, specifically those involving parrying the ball into play from outside the ropes, have been a hot topic of discussion recently. Michael Neser’s grab earlier this year in the BBL kicked up a Laws of Cricket debate, and while Tarlekar’s effort isn’t similar, there will still some who questioned the legality of the catch, especially with only one angle available to judge his footing.

 

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