Sachin Tendulkar Opens Up The Impact Of Jonty Rhodes On The Cricket Field
Jul 28, 2020 at 2:08 PM
On last Monday (27th July), the former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes turned 51-year-old. Wishing him happy birthday, the legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar also revealed Rhodes’ impact in the game.
Jonty Rhodes, who served for the South Africa national cricket team from 1992 to 2003, was one of the greatest cricketers of his nation. Apart from his middle-order batting, Rhodes was very famous for his excellent fielding. If the ball was moving towards in hands, the batsmen were lesser confident to take a single. Not only his exceptional ground fielding but Rhodes was also similarly famous for incredible catching through the perfect-timed diving.
Rhodes played 52 Tests and 245 ODIs where the right-handed middle-order batsman scored 2532 runs (average 35.66) and 5935 runs (average 35.11) respectively. While Rhodes took 34 Test catches and 105 ODI catches, he is still holding the record of most catches in a limited-overs match (five catches against West Indies at Mumbai, Brabourne Stadium).
On his 51st birthday, Sachin Tendulkar sent him the best wishes. Also, Tendulkar admitted that it was a challenge to play against a fielder like him, but he also enjoyed to see the vitality fielder like him.
Tendulkar posted on his official twitter account, “Wishing you a very happy birthday Jonty! Playing against a fielder like you was always a challenge and to watch your field has always been a treat. Have a great one buddy.”
Wishing you a very happy birthday Jonty!
Playing against a fielder like you was always a challenge and to watch you field has always been a treat. Have a great one buddy. pic.twitter.com/AH4YvFa2YW
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 27, 2020
Sachin Tendulkar was the first batsman who was given out by the third umpire. While it was a run-out dismissal, Jonty Rhodes was the man who ran out the Indian legend. That incident happened during the 1992 Kingsmead Test when the TV umpire was first-time introduced.
Jonty Rhodes is now working as a fielding coach
After ending his career as a player, Rhodes has been involved in the coaching. While he was once the fielding coach of South Africa national cricket team, he was also the assistant coach of Kenya national cricket team in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. In the IPL, while he was once the fielding coach of the Mumbai Indians (MI), he is now handling the same post for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).