ICC World Cup 2023: Who Are Team India’s Best Fielder Medal Winners Till Date?

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The Indian fielding coach T Dilip introduced an award - a medal - to honour the best fielder of the team in every match at the start of the ICC World Cup 2023 with the announcement being made post the victory against Australia on October 8.

The best fielder medal is given to a player, who not only takes splendid catches, but for all the other aspects like executing a run or saving runs or the glove-work from behind the stumps by the wicketkeeper.

The introduction of this award has got the Indian players all excited and motivated to win the prize. This also has kept the morale high, and it has resulted in their unbeaten run at the ongoing World Cup 2023 at home.

Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja have also made gestures of the medal when they have taken some stunning catches with their teammates also joining in to show the team is in good spirits. In the eight matches so far, different players have won the medal. Here is a look at the match-wise medal winners:

Who are Team India's best fielder medal winners?

1. India vs Australia - October 8: Virat Kohli bagged the first-ever best fielder medal, which he received from the fielding coach Dilip, who announced the introduction of the long impending medal.

He was rewarded for his terrific slip catching and lightning quick work on the outfield followed by a crucial knock with the bat that saw India beat Australia by 6 wickets in their World Cup 2023 opener at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

2. India vs Afghanistan - October 11: Shardul Thakur was the second recipient of the best fielder medal, which he received from teammate Kohli for his catch to dismiss Rahmanullah Gurbaz as India defeated Afghanistan by 8 wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

3. India vs Pakistan - October 14: KL Rahul was the third recipient of the best fielder medal, which he received from previous winner Thakur for his splendid glove work, which included a diving catch to dismiss Imam Ul Haq as India beat their rivals by 7 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

4. India vs Bangladesh - October 19: Ravindra Jadeja, who took a blinder to dismiss Mushfiqur Rahim and made the medal gesture, was the fourth best fielder medal recipient as India defeated Bangladesh by 7 wickets at the MCA Stadium in Pune.

5. India vs New Zealand - October 22: Shreyas Iyer, who also made gesture after taking a good catch to dismiss Devon Conway, bagged the best fielder medal as India defeated high-flying Kiwis by 4 wickets at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.

This is when fielding coach started getting creative with his announcements as the winner was revealed with a photo frame sliding down the spider cam as Jadeja put the medal, while Kuldeep Yadav put the photo frame on Iyer's neck.

6. India vs England - October 29: KL Rahul bagged his second best fielder medal for his catching and stumping in the match as India defeated the defending champions England by 100 runs at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.

Once again, the creativity for the announcement saw an upgrade as coach Dilip arranged for the winner's name to be revealed using the light show of the venue in Lucknow as Rahul received the medal from Iyer.

7. India vs Sri Lanka - November 2: Rahul returned the favour to Shreyas Iyer, who won the best fielder medal for the second time. This time it was for his catch at slip to dismiss Sadeera Samarawickrama as India handed Sri Lanka a thumping loss at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

This time as well there was a special way in the way the winner was revealed as the best fielder award received a legend's touch in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, who appreciated the idea.

8. India vs South Africa - November 5: Skipper Rohit Sharma was awarded the best fielder medal for excellent field positioning with the fielding coach calling him 'the professor' and the medal winner was yet again revealed in a unique way.

This time buggy camera arrived to focus on the winner with Rahul, Jadeja, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit standing around it, and finally the cam focussed on the skippera as previous winner Iyer put the medal on his neck.

9. India vs Netherlands - November 12: Suryakumar Yadav bagged his first best fielder medal for his wonderful reflexes on the field. He was given the medal by throwdown specialist Nuwan Seneviratne.

Once again Dilip got creative with the announcement as he used the giant screen to reveal the nominees with the decision made using the third umpire animation as SKY.

10. India vs New Zealand (Semi-final) - November 15: Ravindra Jadeja won his second award for taking three crucial catches that tilted the semi-final in India's favour. He was given the medal by Suryakumar Yadav.

After few creative announcements, coach Dilip opted to reveal the winner following his speech, congratulating the team on the effort and used the TV in the dressing room to show the best fielder.

11. India vs Australia (Final): Kohli bagged his second medal as Team India ended the World Cup as runners up. He received the medal from previous winner Jadeja following an inspiration speech from coach Dilip. Here is a look at the winners list so far:

India's Best Fielder Medal Winners List