New Delhi: Unarguable the best fielder ever in cricket, Jonty Rhodes is on his visit to India for the Indian Junior Players League T20, a cricket talent hunt platform.
Rhodes has been mentoring as the three day camp will see 16 teams being chosen and for a tournament which will take place in Mumbai later in January, 2017.
On his visit the athletic South African had an interview with The Quint, in which he spoke of his admiration for Suresh Raina.
On being asked to name the best Indian fielder on present, Jonty made his tough pick public.
“Suresh Raina is my favourite fielder. Virat Kohli has got an incredible arm. He is very competitive in the field. But, as a captain, he is always thinking about different things like bowling changes and field changes. So, I think that someone like Suresh Raina he reminds me of me. If I was a player now and I had a role model from the fielding point of view, I would certainly look at Suresh Raina.”
Rhodes also reflected on his work with the 'God of Cricket' Sachin Tendulkar in IPL and there were a few confessions to make.
“He[Sachin] is quite different, I must confess. I used to like watch him bat as long as he wasn't playing against me. Having worked with him in the IPL was incredible. Sometimes, it's about scoring runs and the other thing is what they can offer in the dressing room. To have that sort of playing in your dressing room environment is always great,” Rhodes said.
The South African then commented on his status as the 'best fielder in the world', “I was the best fielder because I was the only fielder. There was nobody else. It was easy to be number one because there wasn't any second or third who wanted to dive around the field. People now know, in T20 cricket especially, the importance of saving one run. And, that's the key message I have for my players in the IPL- just save me one run.”
