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The
Australian Summer of ’92 would perhaps be one of the most celebrated
year for cricket photographer
all over the world. Because this was the year which gave rise to one of
the greatest fielders of all time, Jonty Rhodes. The image of Rhodes,
‘flying horizontally’ in the air to run-out Inzamam-ul-Haq, is one of
the best that cricket, as a spectacle, could offer. That single ‘dive’
still remaining etched in our memory and has came to be associated with
fielding greatness of all time.
When,
Rhodes recently decided to retire from the longer version of the game, the
game of cricket lost one of its greatest assets that made it such a
popular sports on T.V.The last decade must have seen many changes in the game of cricket but
none has been as pronounced as the ‘fielding’ aspect, which has
changed dramatically, thanks largely to Rhodes , who redefined the whole
aspect of fielding itself.
The ‘point’ came to be associated with him
so much that today one would be considered the best fielder only if one
were standing at that point. It has become the number ‘10’ shirt of
football in cricket. You are not your team’s best fielder unless you are
at the ‘point’. And so, in the recent series against Sri Lanka and New
Zealand, whenever the ball went to the point region, one invariably
searched for Jonty. But then realized that the great fielder has said
adieu to the test matches. Now he would be only representing his side in
one-day gamers. That’s really unfortunate for fans, for he was not only
a great fielder, he was a great entertainer.
His batting was no less
electrifying and at many occasions, he steered South Africa out of
trouble. Apart from his good one day batting record, he has a good enough
record in Tests too (2412 runs from 50 tests at an average of 36). He was
one of their best players of spin, the department in which most South
Africans are considered deficient. Jonty has always been a team-man and it
shows in his on-field actions where he always keeps goading his teammates
all the time.
But
many people, who know him, say that his greatest quality is his elevation
– to God, to his family and also to his team. A God fearing man, he is
always involved in philanthropic activator and has especially contributed
to ‘epileptic-research’ from his earnings, as he himself was once an
epileptic patient. A multi-talented personality, who also played Hockey at
the highest level, was unable to juggle his professional and private life
for long and when his wife gave birth to their daughter Daniella, he
decided to quit the larger form of the game, in order to devote more time
to his family. But his devoted fans will miss him ever after and watching
South Africa play a Test match won’t ever hold that great excitement for
them ever again.
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