While the Indian cricket team is now in South Africa to play a series of matches there, one famous former cricketer from that country is now in India and plans to stay here for a few months. He reached India in time to watch some of the recently concluded ICC World Cup matches and stayed back after the event had ended.
He has visited Goa, Bengaluru and Mangalore and will be visiting more cities. Meanwhile, he has got admission for his children, a daughter named India and son named Nathan, into a school in the village of Agonda in south Goa.
Rhodes has always had an affinity for India. He loves Indian culture and Indian food. It was for this reason that he named his daughter India. He is not here just for a holiday but will also be working. However, he clarified that spending so much time on the beaches does make it feel like a vacation.
Mysore Masala Dosa
He posted photos of himself in Goa and Bengaluru on social media. In Bengaluru, early one morning, he sat at an eatery named Murugan Cafe and had Mangalore Bun and Mysore Masala Dosa. He wrote: “Walking around Bangalore is pleasant before the rush. Great tea, coffee at Murugan Cafe and awesome to see a master at work.”
During his cricket career Rhodes was considered to be one of the best fielders in the entire world. The catches that he took and the run outs that he pulled off were incredible and cannot be forgotten by anyone who has seen them. South African cricketers have a long tradition of being fantastic fielders right from the time of Colin Bland and Eddie Barlow. Rhodes was in that category too.
While speaking at the Huddle Global Summit in Thiruvananthapuram last month, Rhodes said about his fielding: “I loved fielding and would hurl myself at the ball even when it was nowhere near me. My teammates would joke that I was doing it so that my mother sitting at home would see me more often on the television screen. But actually I was always trying to do what they had never done. So never be afraid of failures and what others think of your idea,” he advised the gathering.
Rhodes and hockey
Rhodes is an all round athlete who has many talents. He has also represented South Africa in hockey and was chosen to play for the country in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. However, the team failed to qualify. He could have taken part in the 1996 Olympics too but this time an injury prevented him from playing.
Incidentally, Rhodes made his Test cricket début against India in the first Test of the “Friendship Tour” at his home ground in Durban on 13th November 1992. He scored 41 in the first innings and 26 not out in the second innings. His last Test match was played against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in the year 2000.
It was in the 1992 World Cup that Rhodes became famous as one of the best fielders ever seen. In the match between South Africa and Pakistan, South Africa batted first and scored 211.
Lightning speed
When Pakistan batted, at one point Inzamam ul Haq and skipper Imran Khan were at the crease. With the score at 135 for two, Inzamam who was at the time on 48, set off for a run but was turned back by Imran Khan. The ball had rolled out towards Rhodes who was at backward point. The fleet footed Rhodes gathered up the ball like lightning, ran towards the stumps and finally launched his body into a dive to create a run out. That feat is still considered one of the more spectacular achievements of international cricket.
Since Rhodes is now in India and will be spending some months here, the BCCI should rope him in to give some coaching to India’s junior players. He is an inspiration to all players and a few tips from him could result in improving the level of Indian fielders to a great extent.
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