Former South African cricketer, Jonty Rhodes is hailed as one of the greatest fielders of all time. Rhodes has found a new home for the upcoming 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League as he has switched from Punjab Kings to the Lucknow Super Giants as their fielding coach. LSG will be the third franchise that Rhodes will be coaching in the IPL.
Ahead of the upcoming season, Rhodes talked about how the Indian Premier League has changed the stands of fitness and fielding all over the world. He has also named the best fielding in the world currently and it’s not Virat Kohli.
Jonty Rhodes Named The Best Fielder
In an interview with The Times of India, Rhodes was asked to name the top three fielders in the world currently. However, Rhodes only named one player and it was none other than India’s star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Speaking to TOI, Rhodes said: “Right now, there is only one – Ravindra Jadeja,”
He added: “It is T20 cricket specifically, not just limited overs. Only when IPL began, people really started focusing on fielding. Not every team had fielding coaches. There was enough time in 50-over matches. You had 3-4 good fielders and 6-7 guys didn’t do great. But once IPL started, we saw growth in fielding. Since 2008, around 12-13 years have been amazing. Earlier, people spoke about fielding but there were only 3-4 good individuals. But now, as a team we have seen the growth of fielding go through the roof.”
“It is not difficult to focus on fielding because it is a discipline. We have fielding coaches and their job is to make the work done. Just like batting and bowling, it is a part of daily practice. As a fielding coach, I am not requesting players, I am getting them into fielding rules. Fielding now is an important part of cricket,”
Jonty On How To Improve Fielding Standards
Further, Jonty Rhodes talked about how the standards of fielding can be improved at the domestic level. He said he could go and train players for a few days but they will forget that afterward as they need regular practice for it. He said:
“I think more coaches are required. If I go to any academy and any state, I can motivate the players for 3-4 days in a camp. They will be excited and do the drills but in two weeks’ time, they will forget everything or not do things with the same intensity. Cricket is a game of habit and how you practice is important. People think practice makes perfect players but you need perfect practice for perfection. The key is to upskill coaches at domestic level and make sure more youngsters come through as they can easily get into the good habit of fielding at an early stage. We should focus on coaches. If I train players, the impact is on 10-12 players but if I can train 5-6 coaches, the impact will be on 100 players,”
