Fielding was my path of innovation, says former South Africa cricketer Rhodes

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 18 (PTI) Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes on Saturday said here that his focus on fielding was rooted in his desire to do better than others on the field.

He said he put in quality practice to perfect his fielding and his performance really changed the way the teams started looking at fielding as an equal component, like batting and bowling.

Speaking at the Huddle Global 2023, Rhodes recalled many memorable moments from his cricketing days to highlight the importance of practice, focus and innovation to young entrepreneurs at the event.

'My focus on fielding was rooted in my desire to do better than others on the field and that was an innovation that I brought to the team,' said former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes who is arguably the best fielder the modern cricket world has seen.

Referring to the most famous incident of an airborne Rhodes crashing into the stumps to run out Inzamam-ul-Haq in the 1992 World Cup, Rhodes said as his throwing was not accurate, he decided to dash to the stumps with the ball.

'As I neared the stumps, I realised I had to get there faster and just launched myself into the stumps. Almost every newspaper across the cricketing world had that picture on their front page and that really defined my career,' said the former South African batsman.

He said he loved fielding and he would fling himself towards the ball even when it was nowhere near.

'My teammates used to call it 'TV Dive' and pull my legs saying I was doing it so that my mom sitting at home could see more of me on the TV,' he said.

He also said he never was afraid to try what others in the team never tried.

'So never be afraid of failures and what others think of your idea,' said Rhodes said, giving another piece of advice.

He held out an example of former South African captain Hanse Cronje to underline the importance of power delegation.

'Cronje was the captain but he left it to me to sort out the fielding department. He was a great leader and friend,' he said.

Every single counts in a cricket match, and like that no trivial job is unimportant, said Rhodes, using cricketing analogy to drive home another point.

Referring to the ongoing World Cup, he played to the gallery saying he was wearing a blue colour shirt to show which team he supported.

'As South Africa is not in the final, I can boldly declare who I am tipping to win the final,' he said to a huge cheer from the crowd. PTI LGK SS