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Is Jonty Rhodes the best fielder International Cricket has seen ?

cnerd123

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Best Indian fielder of all time? Yuvraj / Kaif / Raina / Jadeja?
Yuvraj and Kaif easily.

Raina is pretty damn good, Rohit/Kohli/Rahane/Jadeja all solid as well. In the older days we pretty much just had Azhar who was good in the outfield. Can't recall if Ajay Jadeja was any good or not. Yuvi and Kaif's arrival kinda turned things around for us.
 

longranger

U19 Cricketer
Yuvraj and Kaif easily.

Raina is pretty damn good, Rohit/Kohli/Rahane/Jadeja all solid as well. In the older days we pretty much just had Azhar who was good in the outfield. Can't recall if Ajay Jadeja was any good or not. Yuvi and Kaif's arrival kinda turned things around for us.
Kohli's slip fielding is pathetic. I don't know why he placed himself there in the Test vs Bangladesh? Even dropped a dolly. Dhawan should be the first choice slipper in the Test team.
 

OverratedSanity

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Yuvraj and Kaif easily.

Raina is pretty damn good, Rohit/Kohli/Rahane/Jadeja all solid as well. In the older days we pretty much just had Azhar who was good in the outfield. Can't recall if Ajay Jadeja was any good or not. Yuvi and Kaif's arrival kinda turned things around for us.
AJ was definietely really good. Remember Robin Singh throwing himself around too
 

cnerd123

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Tests tho. Haven't had any really good fielders since ODIs became a thing.

There was Kapil Dev...then Jadeja and Robin Singh it seems...and then all these young 'uns from the Yuvi/Kaif era.

No one in the current batch is much good in the slips barring Ashwin. All the young ones are outfielders. My theory is that in Indian club and domestic cricket, it's the old, plump, middle aged veterans who plop themselves in the slips and stand there all day, making the young energetic ones chase the ball around. Thus this new gen of cricketers are all pretty excellent in the outfield, but awful at the slips since they're never really asked to stand there.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Splitting hairs between the two of them though tbf.

Warner's probably the better outfielder while Smith's better closer to the bat.
Smith is an exceptional outfielder as well. Took some amazing boundary catches - I remember right at the start of the career, he took one running, diving catch pretty much behind his head which was truly absurd in Sydney.

The only aspect where Warner has him covered is speed across the ground - Warner is probably the fastest I've ever seen - but Smith is quick too, and he's a much more accurate throw. As an all-round fielder, I'd take Smith (as well as a more agile Clarke in the ring) in the vast majority of situations.
 
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adub

International Captain
Yep, I don't really think it's spitting hairs. Warner is a gun fielder, but TPC is just ridiculous.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Smith would fit straight into the mid-00s ring field. That's some feat given the company involved there.

I'd say he's not quite as agile as a young Clarke and doesn't have his bullet arm, but he's more likely to swallow anything that's hit remotely near him in the air.

As for the OP: Ponting. Or ABdV (though he's not as exceptional a ground fielder as he is a pure catcher, where he is just silly)
 
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Antihippy

International Debutant
Hmm yeah, I'd say that for close in fielding smith's reaction time is still unreal, but for awareness of play, in-ring and outfield fielding Maxwell ekes out warner and smith.

That run-out in the world cup final was still unbelievable to me. The awareness and speed was punter-esque, especially in comparison to this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLtaA44nW40
 

Daemon

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Smith dropped a couple in the India series didn't he? One of them he blamed on the spider cam iirc.
 

weldone

Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, they really were outstanding. Starsports was showing highlights of Tendulkar's hundred in the cb series final of 2008, and even more impressive than Tendulkar's knock was Australia's all round fielding that day. They saved atleast 40-50 runs. No joke.

Oh yeah and inb4tendulkarhighjacksallthreads
Tendulkar's batting > Tendulkar's bowling > Tendulkar's fielding >> Australian fielding :p
 

weldone

Hall of Fame Member
Colin Bland, Norm O'Neill, Roger Harper,Neil Harvey, Andrew Symonds, Ricky Ponting, Rohan Kanhai, Alvin Kallicharan, Seymour Nurse, Greg Chappell, Colin Cowdrey. That's eleven who are ALL equal to or better than Jonty Rhodes
What about Sobers, Eknath Solkar, MAK Pataudi, Brian Close?
 

Goughy

Hall of Fame Member
Why are batsmen in general better fielders than bowlers? Is there more to it than the greater need for a faster reaction time and hand eye coordination for batsmen?
Bowlers are equally good fielders as batsmen. You just dont want them having to intensely concentrate every ball. You 'put them out to graze' between spells and between overs. It is also tough to bowl the next over when you have a bruised hand having taken a screamer at point.

The traditional view is that you try and protect your bowlers in the field as you want them to focus primarily on bowling. I liked to field at gully but it was tough at times and I can see why fine leg is appealing when you are trying to calm down and rest after a hard spell.

It isnt that they cant do it but that established wisdom is that they shouldnt be in the firing line (there are exceptions from Trueman to Jordan).

Also, bowlers like to bitch at batsmen who drop catches. It isnt the same when having a go at one of your own! :D
 
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