Rhodes captivates Hyd Ranji players - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad, Oct 24 (INN): Hyderabad cricketers had their first taste of top grade professional coaching on a sultry morning at the Gymkhana Ground here on Monday.

In a belated, but welcome move, the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) introduced a dash of foreign touch with the commencement of what could be a regular feature for the boys.

The HCA authorities should be lauded for taking up the most critical component of a match, in which India finds itself way behind most of the Test playing nations.

By planning to invigorate fielding, they have taken the first task towards regaining lost glory, which translates to two Ranji Trophy triumphs.

All the members of the Hyderabad Ranji squad were subject to a gruelling fielding session by none other than South African fielding legend, Jonty Rhodes.

HCA officially launched Jonty's Way Fielding Coaching Camp to the utmost delight of the players, who are at the butt of criticism for the manner the team was demoted to the Plate classification in the domestic season.

The miserable batting and bowling performances were made worst by atrocious and amateurish fielding blunders. Rhodes, the electrifying fielder that he was in his playing days, gave enough indications that he has not lost the verve despite being away from competitive cricket for a while now.

He has retained the same agility and panther-like ferociousness, which may have come as an eye-opener for the boys, considering that they have never been above mediocrity on the field, which is best exemplified by VVS Laxman.

Speaking to the media after overseeing the HCA players undergoing the drill, Rhodes said that the best fielder in the Ranji squad was T Suman. In the same vein, he said that his compatriot, Herschelle Gibbs, was the World's best in contemporary cricket.

Rhodes said he was pretty impressed with the women's team, in spite of their handicap. Monday's second session of the clinic was exclusively for the women team.

Speaking on the sidelines, the visibly delighted HCA President Arshad Ayub said that they would work out modalities once they get a feedback at the end of the clinic. He said if things work out well, including logistics, HCA would not be averse to hiring Rhodes as a regular, a la Dennis Lille's pact with MRF Pace Foundation, from the coming summer.

Rhodes's hawk-eyes will also take in their stride the level of competence of the under-19 players on Tuesday morning, after he makes a visit to the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

In addition to newly appointed Ranji coach Sunil Joshi, all the caches associated with the team would be given tips on the art of fielding.

A cricketer-trainee summed up the experience best-Catches win matches and towards perfecting it one need not look beyond Rhodes in life and blood for inspiration.