Fielding, the Jonty way!

Jonty Rhodes is the greatest fielder the world has ever seen. From the current lot of players i suppose AB de Villiers, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and maybe even Suresh Raina are up there, but deinitely not in the same league as Rhodes.
I've grown up watching the man dive and slide his way to greatness. He made fielding an art at a time when it was one of the most neglected areas of the sport. Only more recently with the rise of T20 cricket and close finishes in the 50 over format have players and coaches begun to emphasise more on fielding as the third area of specialization.
As a youngster who began playing cricket on the terrace with her father, fielding was one of my favorite parts of the game. We had 'catching practice' everyday where i would dive on the concrete, oblivious to the fact that i could cause serious damage to my body; the reason being-- I thought Jonty Rhodes would be proud of me!
When i began playing 'serious' cricket I was always first taken as a fielder, and i honestly had no problem with that. I prided (and still do) myself on my fielding and always considered myself an asset in the field. When I broke into the Hyderabad Senior team, even though i had scored a half century in the Under 19 level to do so, i was taken as a fielder. It was not until my third season in the Senior team that i began to make my mark as a new ball bowler.
Fielding to me will always be the most important part of the game. You may be a fantastic batsman but if you are -20 in the field, it's not worth it. Maybe that's too harsh for some people, but having idolized the likes of Rhodes and Ponting and having always wanted to emulate thier efforts in the field, its the least one can expect.

Today, we (the Hyderabad Senior team) got the opportunity to train under none other than Jonty Rhodes himself. It was a dream come true! He was absolutely fantastic with us. He didn't sound like a 'star', he didn't even seem any different from one of us.
We had an absolutely superb session and I believe we proved to Jonty that the girls are not far behind the boys! (He certainly seemed to think so).
Towards the end of the session, after we got him to sign a few autographs and pose for a few photos, I shook his hand and told him how naive i had once been-- diving on the terrace becuase i believed he would be proud of me. His smile simply grew wider and he said, "You thought right. I'm sure i would have been proud. Thank you!"

Many people say that meeting your idol is usually a let down, but honestly, today, it wasn't! I had the most amazing time. My respect and admiration for Jonty Rhodes remains, in fact, i believe it has increased ten fold!