What A Brilliant Catch By The Cricket Fan!! We have often seen cricketers pushing their limits to save a couple of runs near the boundary line or to take fabulous catches. Nowadays, almost all the top tier tournaments have an award fixed for the best catch of the season or a match. However, I can bet that you have never seen a fan sitting in the audience winning an award for taking a catch. Well, that is pretty much what happened in New Zealand a couple of years ago.
What A Brilliant Catch By The Cricket Fan; Wins $5000
A certain cricket fan won a cash prize worth $5,000 after pulling off a spectacular one-handed catch while in the audience. The fan, named Andrew McCulloch had no idea that he would return home $5000 richer when he went to see the match the evening. He had gone to see the match between Otago Volts and Wellington Firebirds. On a certain delivery, the batsman hit the ball high into the air and when it reached Andrew, he caught it with one hand, with utter perfection.
The catch has won Andrew (a cricket fan) five thousand US dollars. That was thanks to a promotional offer from a sponsor which gave any spectator who catches a ball five grand. On being asked as to what he would do with the amount, Andrew McCulloch answered that he shall be paying off his debts with it.
Fielding has slowly become one of the most game-changing parts of cricket. This is especially due to the rise of shorter forms of the sport like T20 and T10. In order to field properly, the players need to be Athletic or physically fit, which is very demanding.
The Importance Of Great Fielding These Days Is Quite Evident With The T20 World Cup Coming Up
Gone are the days when a player who is a bit on the heavier side will be preferred over a fit guy, just because he has potential. Fitness is often ranked higher than talent or potential nowadays. That is the same reason why team India has introduced the new Yoyo format. It is an important part of their selection process into the national team.
Talented players like Varun Chakravarty and Rahul Tewatia could not represent India despite getting a call, only because they were termed to not be fit enough. Prithvi Shaw has also been told by team India’s coaching staff that he has to work on his fitness before he can make his way back to the national team.
The Cricket Fan Sets The Standards For Great Fielding
The T20 World Cup is knocking at our doors. It is high time that all the participating nations start working on all the key aspects of their team. Fielding, of course, will be one of the decisive factors. Teams like India and South Africa will have an edge over the others due to the presence of great fielders. The list includes the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Faf Du Plessis respectively in their teams.
Fielding matters in shorter formats of the game. Saving runs becomes even more important than picking up wickets. Nowadays, some players are chosen in the team solely based on their fielding capabilities. An example of the same is Manish Pandey in team India.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman has never had a great run with the national side. He was still one of the regular starters for India for a long time. This is just due to his exceptional fielding abilities. Hopefully, this cricket fan can be an inspiration to some of the players who need to work on their fielding.
