Jonty Rhodes reveals the 'perfect moment' of his career

Jonty Rhodes, who is considered as one of the finest fielders the sport has ever seen. The South African has been spectacular with his dives, reflexes, etc. Jonty Rhodes is currently the fielding coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI).

In 1992 World Cup, Jonty Rhodes had a famous flying run out of Inzamam-ul-Haq, which is considered to be the perfect moment of the fielding legend. But he revealed that it was not.

Rhodes revealed to Times of India, “ Most people would think my perfect sporting moment would be my flying run out of Inzamam at the 1992 World Cup but, to be honest, it was such a tight decision that Steve Bucknor gave in my favour and he could just as easily have said not out. My perfect moment took place in a Hero Cup match in 1993 against the West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium. I caught five of the five catches that came to me that day, and to be honest, two of them I had to go and “fetch“ at full stretch. This was on a terribly hot and humid Mumbai day and, with the amount of sweat dripping off me, it was a miracle that these catches didn’t spill from my grasp.”

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“Five catches in a match is still a world record for the number of catches taken by a fielder in a 50-over match, and 23 years later, it is hard to believe it is still standing. I’m not really attached to that “perfect moment“, as I am sure that with the standard of fielding nowadays, and the way the batsmen are prepared to go for sixes, even with fielders on the boundary, that somebody will take six, soon! I never went seeking perfection as in our game there are too many elements beyond our control, but what I tried to ensure was that I practiced with the same intensity with which I played a match. I would strive for perfection in the process, not the outcome,” he added.

Jonty Rhodes also explained the way he puts challenges in front of him to become better in fielding. “There was only one way to prepare for these kinds of catches: set up a “goal“ that consisted of two plastic markers five metres apart, and ask a team-mate to try and hit the ball past me. I called it my “goal of reckoning“, as I “reckoned“ they would never get a single ball past me. This competitive nature, even at practice, allowed me to dive around the field in matches, and take some winning catches.”