‘Right now, there’s only one…’ – Jonty Rhodes picks his best fielder in world cricket

Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes was known for his splendid fielding efforts throughout his career. He is regarded as one of the greatest fielders the game has ever produced. He holds the record for the most catches (5) in ODI innings. He is also the only player to score more than 5,000 runs in ODI and take 50 dismissals with fielding in the format.

Recently, Rhodes was asked to choose the current top three fielders in world cricket, and the South African star came up with only one name – Ravindra Jadeja. Rhodes believes that there is no one better than the Indian all-rounder currently when it comes to fielding. The 34-year-old has been one of the greatest fielders for India in the past few years. Jadeja is also one of the great all-rounders in international cricket, who can take big wickets as a leg spinner and can also add some crucial runs to the team’s total coming to bat in the middle order.

“Right now, there is only one – Ravindra Jadeja,” Rhodes told Times of India when asked to name the current top three fielders in the world. Jadeja will be seen in action again for the Chennai franchise in the upcoming season of the Indian T20 League. He will be looking to go ahead of the 2022 season he was appointed as the skipper but was relinquished from the role in mid-season due to the team’s poor performance.

Once Indian  T20 League started, we saw growth in fielding: Jhonty Rhodes

Rhodes, who is also the fielding coach of the Lucknow franchise, believes that the Indian T20 League played a big role in increasing the fielding standards in international cricket. He said that fielding is also a part of the practice just like batting and bowling and now is an important part of the game.

“It is T20 cricket specifically, not just limited overs. Only when Indian T20 League 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 Indian  T20 League 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,” the former cricketer said.

“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,” he further added.