IPL 2024: Following the LSG-KKR match, a ball boy and Jonty Rhodes share a happy moment

Every child who has a fondness for cricket harbours an unshakable dream of meeting the renowned players they have watched from a distance. A similar incident happened to Atharw K. Gupta, a young ball boy, who managed to make a flawless catch beyond the third-man boundary off a short-pitched delivery by Vaibhav Arora that Marcus Stoinis skillfully upper-cut. At the Lucknow Super Giants vs. Kolkata Knight Riders game at the Ekana International Cricket Stadium, an incident occurred on the fifth delivery of the third over.

Legendary Jonty Rhodes, a genuine icon and a source of inspiration for young fielders everywhere, was kind enough to speak with Atharw briefly after the match, which LSG lost by a significant margin (98 runs). Having praised the young player’s effort from the dugout throughout the game, Rhodes approached Atharw and praised him once more. When he questioned Atharw if he ever felt like he lost the ball in the floodlights, he replied that he didn’t. The camera was pointed at the ball boy, who showered the former South African cricket player with admiration after Rhodes asked him if he enjoyed making catches the Australian way or reverse-cup.

He remembered the prior time he had the good fortune to meet his idol at a fielding session in 2020 and professed his respect for the legendary fielder. In addition to reiterating that Rhodes is the only cricket player to have earned Player of the Match for his fielding efforts alone—during their 1993 encounter against the West Indies—he thought back on the vast amount of knowledge he had gained from their prior encounter.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲!

What happenes when Jonty Rhodes interviews Atharw – the Ball Kid who took that fine catch – By @ameyatilak #TATAIPL | #LSGvKKR | @LucknowIPL | @JontyRhodes8 pic.twitter.com/l3hUdhepGi

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2024

Getting your hands and body under the ball and using your feet deftly while tracking the ball’s trajectory are two further fundamentals of fielding that Jonty Rhodes emphasised, which Atharw flawlessly enforced. They were seen shaking hands and exchanging namaste at the end of the film, with Rhodes looking pleased with Atharw’s keen memory.

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