Moments after Mumbai Indians stunned Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final of the Champions League Twenty20, a disappointed Virat Kohli went up to Jonty Rhodes with a half-smile. “Am I doing everything right as a fielder?” he asked.
And the 42-year-old, basking in the glory of his side’s first tournament victory, quipped, “Virat, I must tell you that India won the World Cup final primarily because of some electrifying fielding form you, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina in the covers.”
And no, Rhodes didn’t utter all those sugary words to pacify Kohli. He meant it. “Zaheer Khan bowled a few back-to-back maidens, but I remember S Sreesanth dishing out freebies to Tillakaratne Dilshan. That guy is murderous on anything outside off. The number of runs India’s trio saved in that region won them the final,” Rhodes said on the sidelines of a promotional event on Tuesday. The best fielder cricket has ever seen has a lot on his hands these days. Apart from being the fielding coach of MI, he is the brand ambassador for a couple of establishments including Evolution Sports Nutrition.
And it wouldn’t be wrong to say Mumbai is his second home. “I have a PAN card now,” he giggled. Soon, he began talking about — what else — fielding. “There are two aspects that make a good fielder. You must love fielding and be a good anticipator. You must want the ball to come to you all the time,” he said.
Given that he played hockey, football, tennis and table tennis, he was blessed with quick movements and superb hand-eye coordination. “I must credit Hansie Cronje for making me a fielding all-rounder. He gave me a lot of freedom,” he said. Talking of all-rounders, Rhodes said Sachin Tendulkar is an all-rounder at the table tennis table too! “We were playing a match at the Ambani home last year. Sachin was my partner. I just defended, while he smashed balls at will. Sachin is a master at anything he does,” Rhodes said, matter of factly!
Talking about sliding, Rhodes said players must do it whole-heartedly. “Land on your muscle, never on your knees,” he said, before displaying his bruised leg. “Look at this. It happened in Baroda. I am not scared of blood, though,” he laughed.
Finally, who are the fielders he’d pay to watch? “Colin Bland and Gus Logie; just them.” Why? “I haven’t seen Colin play, but he once put on a demonstration during a rained out game in Kent. He was hitting the stumps from the boundary. I would have paid to watch that,” he said. And what made Logie so great? “That guy is the best short-leg fielder ever. Imagine guarding that region when those tall bowlers (Pat Patterson, Winston Benjamin, Ian Bishop, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh) were in operation. They bowled nothing below the rib cage. And the best part was that he always smiled,” he said. The Kohlis and Rainas need to do a lot more to get Rhodes to pay and watch their acrobatics.
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