Sachin Tendulkar in awe of 'mind-boggling' catch at Sheffield Shield in Australia: 'Was it an audition for Superman?'
Sachin Tendulkar lavished praise on Victoria youngster Campbell Kellaway for a spectacular diving catch during the Sheffield Shield.
One of the great catches in recent cricket memory was pulled off during a Sheffield Shield contest between Western Australia and Victoria, which even caught the attention of one of the greatest cricketers of all time as Sachin Tendulkar shared his thoughts on social media.
Victoria pulled off a tight 24-run victory over WA in their match at the WACA, in which opening batter 22-year-old Campbell Kellaway was the star with an unbeaten 165* in the third innings. However, that special innings wasn’t even his most memorable moment from this match, as he pulled off a grab for the ages in the outfield.
With WA seven wickets down but less than 80 runs from their target, Cameron Gannon played a hook shot off Victoria skipper Will Sutherland out towards long leg, where Kellaway was fielding. After initially misjudging the shot and stepping in, Kellaway quickly had to recover, before flinging himself backwards acrobatically, sticking a hand out, and completing a spectacular catch at a crucial juncture of the game.
The one-handed catch in the outfield got plenty of attention, but none of it would be more inspiring for Kellaway than the compliments he received from Tendulkar on X.
“Was it an audition for Spiderman or Superman? This is truly a mind-boggling catch. Simply awesome," applauded the 51-year-old Indian legend on his account.
‘Better than his 150…’
Kellaway also received credit from his captain Sutherland, who called it the best catch he has seen.
“I actually don’t think I have [seen a better catch] to be honest. With the filming it still came up pretty well, but it’s not the Big Bash cameras, but for him to take that catch into the sun as well, it’s a pretty incredible catch. Almost better than his 150,” said Sutherland.
This catch and Kellaway’s overall player-of-the-match performance was a heartbreaker for Western Australia, who still had a chance of qualifying through to a fifth consecutive Sheffield Shield final if they won this match. However, this loss left them rooted to the bottom of a very congested table, while Marnus Labuschagne’s Queensland qualified through to the finals at their expense. They are set to play runaway leaders South Australia at the Karen Rolston Oval.
