Jonty Rhodes hails Ravindra Jadeja as complete all-round fielder

Jonty Rhodes, renowned for his lightning-fast fielding skills, has praised Ravindra Jadeja as the “complete all-round” fielder in cricket today. Rhodes, who is currently working as a fielding coach with the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL), believes Jadeja's fielding abilities are unmatched.

Rhodes highlighted Jadeja’s exceptional reflexes and accuracy. Jadeja is known for his impressive direct throws and spectacular catches, making him a standout fielder. Rhodes compared Jadeja’s precision to that of Ricky Ponting and noted that Jadeja excels both on the boundary and in the circle.

Besides Jadeja, Rhodes also spoke highly of Suresh Raina, describing him as his ‘favourite’ fielder. Rhodes reminisced about Raina’s energetic fielding during his playing days and his tendency to throw himself around the field. Despite Raina’s retirement, Rhodes continues to admire his passion for the game.

"I am a big fan of Suresh Raina. I enjoyed his playing days but now he has retired. In the past in India, the cricketing infrastructure wasn't there to support the passion and love for cricket. Suresh Raina was someone who used to throw himself around the field," Rhodes said.

"Unlike Raina, I had a very fortunate upbringing. I played football, hockey and cricket on good grounds. So I was very fortunate. I think Jadeja is at the next level, he doesn't dive as much but he is so fast to the ball. And his accuracy at throwing down the stumps is somewhat like Ricky Ponting. He fields on the boundary, he fields on the circle. He is a complete all-round fielder,” he added.

Rhodes, who had an illustrious cricket career spanning 11 years, accumulated 139 catches and was the first South African to achieve 100 catches in ODIs. He scored 5,935 runs in 245 ODIs at an average of 35.11. In addition to his cricketing career, Rhodes was also part of South Africa’s hockey team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.