Ramesh during a rare misfield

London : The ICC, struggling to keep its reputation alive after releasing two highly controversial ‘All time Great’ lists of bowlers & batsmen, finally got it right yesterday, when it released its list of All Time Great Fielders. Ramesh Powar, one of the unsung heroes of Indian cricket got his due when he was named the Best Fielder of All Time. It was also a redeeming day for the Indian School of Cricket thinking, which has maintained that physical fitness or stamina is no indicator of fielding skills.

Ramesh Powar, spotted in a suburban mall in Mumbai said that he is focussing on club cricket, especially the upcoming Goregaon vs Borivali T20 match, as a preparation to get back into the test team. “Many people actually said that my red goggles would affect my fielding. But hopefully, no longer”, he added. One of the selectors of the Indian team, speaking to Utopia on strict conditions of anonymity said “That boy can be in the team just as a pure fielder”.

Arjuna Ranatunga, the ex Srilankan captain made it to the 2nd slot, with some amazing fielding exploits, especially towards the latter half of his career. ICC’s logic of rewarding sudden surges in a players form as opposed to those who toiled throughout a long career has helped bring to light these remarkable personal achievements. Ranatunga, clearly animated, in a press conference at SriLanka took a dig at the Australian team that has been working hard on its fielding techniques, without much result. “Those lean, fit Australians should start enjoying life & eat a Mars Bar or two, instead of doing “fielding practice”. Fielding is actually all in the mind”, he said.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the lanky & charismatic Pakistan Captain completed the top 3. “I only have one question – who is the potato now?”, said a philosophical Inzy. Inzamam who had his career records spoilt by running partners who kept getting run out as they could not keep up his tremendous rhythm, has finally got the recognition that he deserves, at the world arena.

The ICC All Time Greatest Fielders

The island nation of Bermuda got its first cricketing hero when Dwayne Leverock, the well built all rounder was named No 4 in the list. Even though the nation has only played in one world cup, the extraordinary surge in individual performance when he took a diving catch, propelled him to a position in the top 5. “By any standards, that was a damn good effort”, said Lord Malcolm, the ICC ratings expert.

India was clearly the winner with 4 players in the top 10 – Sourav Ganguly, the electric fielder, Venkatesh Prasad, the silent killer & Munaf Patel, the wild man are the other three players who made the cut. Raghav, a common Indian cricket fan said that it was high time that Indian cricket got the recognition that it deserves. “The presence of 4 Indian players in the Top 10 clearly shows that India is now a fielding force to reckon with”, he said passionately.

However, there were also sceptics who doubted the method of the ICC rating & claimed that some of the real all time greats got missed out in this list. The most ridiculous claim so far has been from one Jonty Rhodes, a hitherto unknown cricketer, who some say, accidentally knocked down the stumps in a world cup match.

The ICC List of All Time Greatest Fielders – Top 10

Ramesh Powar
Arjuna Ranatunga
Inzy
Dwayne Leverock
David Boon
Sourav Ganguly
Venkatesh Prasad
Mike Gatting
Monty Panesar
Munaf Patel

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