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Jonty Rhodes declared on Saturday that Pakistani cricketers could transform themselves into top class fielders with a bit more application on the field.

Regarded as the world’s best fielder of his era, Rhodes said that Pakistani players are world-class athletes and can bring a huge difference in their fielding with a more positive attitude towards this area of the game.

The former Test cricketer arrived in Lahore on Saturday to serve a brief stint as Pakistan’s fielding consultant ahead of their tour of England that begins at the end of this month.

Rhodes agreed that during his short 12-day stay in Pakistan, he won’t be able to bring major improvement in the players’ fielding abilities but added that he can help them in getting a more positive attitude towards fielding.

“We are talking about some of the world’s best players,” said Rhodes while talking to ‘The News’. “They make a top class team and I am sure they can be very good fielders,” he added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hired Rhodes, 36, after a poor fielding display by Pakistan in a 1-4 defeat against old rivals India in an ODI series at home earlier this year.

Though Pakistan have some excellent fielders like all-rounder Shoaib Malik, their overall performance in this area of the game has been far from satisfactory. Some of the players like skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq are rated as average fielders and bad runners between the wickets.

Rhodes would work with the national team players in groups besides having training sessions with some of the players on an individual basis. He would take over the responsibilities of a fielding coach when the national team players reassemble at the Gaddafi Stadium tomorrow in Lahore for a training camp following a brief rest.

Apart from working with the England-bound cricketers, Rhodes would also help out the Pakistan A team that is to begin a tour of Australia later this month to play a series of four-day, one-day and twenty20 matches.

Rhodes admitted that it would be a hectic couple of weeks for him but added that he was looking forward to working with the Pakistani players.

Source:The News