Jonty Rhodes Hopes South Africa Can End ICC Trophy Drought At 2027 ODI World Cup On Home Soil

Mumbai: Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes believes the 2027 ODI World Cup will be a special occasion for his country and hopes the hosts can use home advantage to end their wait for an ICC limited-overs trophy.

South Africa, along with Zimbabwe and Namibia, will host the 2027 ODI World Cup. For Rhodes, the tournament will bring back memories of the 2003 edition in South Africa, which proved to be his final World Cup.

“South Africa hosting a World Cup, I’ve done that once before. 2003 was my final shot at a World Cup, my fourth World Cup. And I know that everybody who comes to South Africa loves touring there,” Rhodes said, on the sidelines of the jersey unveiling ceremony of the European T20 Premier League team Rotterdam Dockers of which he is the co-owner along with Bollywood actor John Abraham.

Pointing to the country’s experience of staging major sporting events, including the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Rhodes said South Africans were looking forward to welcoming cricket’s biggest tournament again.

“I think everybody who’s been to South Africa to follow cricket has really enjoyed their time. So we as South Africans are looking forward to hosting it. It’s been a while and it’s great that it’s come around again. Good timing for us, the team is playing pretty well,” he said.

Rhodes believes playing a World Cup at home will also give South Africa an opportunity to settle some unfinished business.

“World Cup cricket is such a special occasion that everybody who comes there is going to enjoy themselves. But I think, as a South African team that’s hosting, there are a few things that we would like to settle. And one of those is obviously winning an ICC limited-overs trophy,” he said.

50-over cricket still has a place

With T20 leagues proliferating across the world, Rhodes acknowledged that ODI cricket could face increasing pressure, particularly in bilateral series, but said it was difficult to imagine the sport without the 50-over format.

Rhodes recalled his association with South Africa’s Standard Bank when Pro20 cricket was launched in the country in 2004. At the time, he said, there were concerns that the shortest format could threaten Test cricket.

“When T20 cricket first started and I was part of a bank in South Africa, Standard Bank, when we launched Pro20 in 2004, people were saying it was going to put pressure on Test cricket. Amazingly, it hasn’t. Sure, some of the Test cricket looks like T20 at times. There’s some aggressive batting and bowling,” he said.

Rhodes said he had instead wondered whether 50-over cricket would eventually come under pressure as T20 brought a new audience and a different perspective to the sport.

“For me, it was always understanding that 50-over cricket might be the one format where, because we bring in such a fresh crowd and a different perspective into the game, possibly 50-over cricket might be in trouble in the years ahead,” he said.

However, the passion associated with international cricket and World Cups would continue to give the format relevance, he said.

“What 50-over cricket has is really passionate fans who will support their team no matter what format or version it is. So I think there’s great scope and it’s such an exciting opportunity to play in a cricket World Cup, whether it’s T20 or 50-over.

“At this stage, I think there’ll be fewer and fewer bilateral series where there’s a lot of 50-over cricket. But it’s very difficult to think of cricket without the 50-over version,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes, regarded as one of cricket’s finest fielders, also reflected on how dramatically fielding standards have evolved since his playing days.

He recalled taking a then world-record five catches against the West Indies in the Hero Cup in 1993, saying fielding at the time was simply something he enjoyed rather than a specialised aspect of the game.

“In 1993, here in the Hero Honda Cup game against the West Indies, I took five catches. I was told afterwards it was a world record. For me, fielding was never anything other than me enjoying myself and just throwing myself around the field like I had been doing as a junior,” he said.

Rhodes said fielding became an increasingly important component of the sport as T20 cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL) developed.

“When I was involved in season two of the IPL, even at that stage, in year one in 2008, there wasn’t a large focus on fielding. For a long time, I did feel like the father of fielding, but now I feel like the grandfather of fielding because of the evolution of the game, batting and bowling, and even fielding,” he said.

Rhodes pointed out that all five catches in his record-breaking performance came inside the circle, whereas modern fielding coaches often identify the boundary as a crucial area.

He cited former Mumbai Indians teammate Kieron Pollard as one of the players who pushed the boundaries of what could be achieved in the field.

“What the guys are doing, and having worked with MI for so long, Kieron Pollard was incredible. He was the first guy who was bringing the ball back from outside the boundary and bringing it back in.

“So it wasn’t me developing fielding. It actually came from the players themselves. For me, it’s been a real revelation to see how the players practise these days,” Rhodes said.

He said spectacular pieces of fielding seen in modern cricket were the result of players devoting considerable time to practising them.

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“We see some great things happening on the field. And the reason why it happens on the field is because they put in the hours practising exactly that,” he said.

Rhodes believes teams can no longer afford to carry even one weak fielder.

“What we saw 10 years ago was that you could have three or four good fielders and you could hide four or five players. These days, you can’t even hide one. The opposition knows where to find that weakness. Everybody’s fielding standards have evolved,” he said.

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