In one of the most wholesome moments of the Indian Premier League 2024, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fielding coach Jonty Rhodes on Sunday gave a ball boy at the Ekana Stadium a moment that he will cherish life-long.(As It Happened | Scorecard)
The South African known for his super human fielding efforts was impressed thoroughly when the ball boy Atharw K Gupta took a high catch outside the boundary ropes during LSG's 98-run loss against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday evening.
Chasing a daunting 236, LSG batter Marcus Stoinis in the third over guided a short delivery from Vaibhav Arora above the short-third man fielder. The ball went high and sailed above the boundary ropes for a six.
Just outside the fence, the ball found Atharw who ran some yards to his right to complete a great catch.
Atharva could not contain his smile as he beamed ear to ear while throwing the ball back on the field and going back to his position.
Commentator Ravi Shastri was also impressed by the fielding effort and so was the LSG fielding coach Rhodes who could be seen clapping from the dugout.
After the completion of the match, Rhodes met Atharw and congratulated the youngster on his "great catch". Rhodes also asked him if he liked reverse cup style of catching to which Atharw replied in the negative.
The youngster said the Rhodes was his role model of fielding and he was feeling very nice on meeting the LSG fielding coach. He also said that he had met Rhodes once earlier also when he learnt a lot of things from the ex-South African player.
Only Atharw's catch was the feel good moment for LSG in their match against KKR which they lost by a huge margin of 98 runs.
The loss pushed LSG's run rate in the negative and could prove to be a major roadblock in their play-off qualification bid. With six wins and five losses, LSG are currently fifth in the table. Only Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans have a run rate poorer than the Lucknow side now.
