Sandpaper Gate reveals erosion of Smith's leadership: Rhodes

Panaji: After the advent of Jonty

Rhodes

, no longer would budding cricketers dream only about batting or bowling.

At GoaFest 2018 in Bambolim, on the outskirts of the city, on Friday, the South African legend enthralled an audience when, his prowess as perhaps the greatest fielder of all time, dominated his lively recounter.

His iconic runout of Pakistan’s portly Inzamam-ul-Haq at no bigger stage than the 1992 World Cup in Australia flashed back in a trice.

The chirpy 48-year-old, however, dismissed it as a “stumble over a bootlace and onto the stumps!”

Rhodes was, until December 2017, fielding coach of IPL team Mumbai Indians and had the audience in splits again when he recollected his travails at watching Munaf Patel, not the most athletic, taking a high catch or attempting to save a boundary.

There were moments of seriousness too as Rhodes dwelled on the match-fixing scandal unearthed in 2000, with his former captain and friend Hansie Cronje at the centre, that shook the world.

“Hansie was deeply interested in the stock market. He loved money. That’s perhaps why he got lured into the match-fixing thing,” Rhodes revealed.

Inevitably, Rhodes was drawn into commenting on the recent Sandpaper Gate ball-tampering scandal involving Australian captain Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

“We South Africans are no angels here,” he said while citing incidents involving current Test captain Faf du Plessis and fast bowler Vernon Philander.

But, relevant to the theme of the evening, the Leadership Summit, Rhodes made a point about Steven Smith, the Aussie captain at the centre of the storm.

“The ‘brainfade’ incident on the tour of India last year followed by Cameron Bancroft’s scuffing of the ball with sandpaper reflect on an erosion of leadership on the part of Steve,” Rhodes said even as he eulogized the Australian captain for his Bradmanesque batting.

The concept of leadership took him back in time. To Keppler Wessels his first international captain, the aggressive type, Cronje with his people’s skills and Shaun Pollock for an incredible cricket brain.

He revealed that an injury that forced him out of the tragic 2003 World Cup campaign at home helped South Africa blood a future captain, Graeme Smith, who at 22 matured and grew to be a successful leader.

But no leadership has been able to chuck the ‘chokers’ tag that the Proteas carry till this day. “The pity is that there is no definite answer to the problem of being chokers because there’s no particular reason,” Rhodes said.

Having named his daughter India, Rhodes explained his connect with the country. “Besides cricket, my wife is a yoga teacher and very spiritual. I even have named my daughter India as a spiritual connection with the country,” he said.