In 1992, when South African team joined back International cricket. Everyone knew they were a talented cricketing nation and they proved it instantly by reaching the semi-finals of the first ever Cricket World Cup they played but what difference they really made was by their fielding..!!

In fact, they had a player called Jonty Rhodes, who according to his captain Hansie Cronje - was picked into playing eleven only for his fielding. Whatever runs he made was ONLY a bonus!!

Other International teams tried to find such fielders in their teams as well and now - in 2011, nearly every team has got two or three fielders who are nearly as good as that man used to be.

This is an article where we look at some of the best fielders in International cricket today.

Ricky Ponting: He is one of the best batsmen in the history of world cricket. With his batting skill he also serves his team as an excellent fielder. He is very speedy in running and his accuracy is something special in his cricketing career. He is also specialist in catching. Statistics shows that he has more than 100 catches in both Test and ODI cricket.

I love Pakistan cricket and the entertainment it brings with it. What would Pakistani cricket be like without all the controverys? Certainly won't feel like Pakistani cricket thats for sure. The Pakistani cricket team comes with it's own style and uniqueness that can't be neared let alone matched in the world alone.

I have followed the Pakistan cricket team (PCT) since I can remember. Remember the 1987 World Cup and how Pakistan played to the Semi-Finals with two very strong characters in the side, in Imran Khan and Javed Miandad. Same happened for years, infact as everyone knows Pakistan won the 1992 edition with both in the team.

Federer defeats Ferrer in straight sets to reach 100th final; meanwhile Frenchman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga ousts Berdych to face off Federer in the Final on Sunday. Fyrstenberg/Matkowski and Mirnyi/Nestor also succeeded in securing their wins to reach the finals.

How useful it is to have an opening batsmen who we can get 10 overs out of on a regular basis.

He bowls accurately and economically. He is a nagging operator. The control of line and length is formidable which is a key strength to his success. Generally the kink and pivot in his action enables him to pick up on any trigger movements from the batsmen and therefore can adjust his delivery accordingly. Hafeez bowls according to his field and gets the angles and positioning of where the fielders are placed inside the ring spot on, they are always on the 1 and on their toes. Hafeez tends to dart and drift the ball into the right handers with the odd one going straighter and skidding through. One every now and then turns back into the pads from just shorter of a length. These subtle variations are utilised very cunningly.Plus there is that element of doubt in the batsmen's minds perhaps in a bit of embarrassment that they don't want to get out to himconsidering he is not considered a front line option and the 2nd or 3rd or even 4th spin option at times. Basically he knows his role and responsibilities and bowls well within himself. A canny and underrated off spinner.

Though seen to be much rarely chosen for matches (That too mostly as replacement), young Asad Shafiq, impressed us during the World Cup 2011 by bagging 78 runs in his debut match against Zimbabwe. Also in his last match against Australia, Shafiq made a good 46 runs, and a watchful 30 in the most-hyped Semi Final against India in Mohali. But recently, we see him being dropped match after match. Pakistan making the mistake of ignoring this young talent?

In ODI Series against South Africa (2010), Shafiq though failing as an opener, showed himself to be solid on 4th position, just below our very own Younis Khan. He showed us his skillful talents, and then was rested for the Final ODI, despite of his fine performance in the earlier matches. Yet again Asad was left out in the first of the two test matches, and was only played once Umar Akmal was injured, and had to be replaced. There and then Asad impressed us by making 61 runs in his debut innings.

In the New Zealand series, Shafiq yet again found himself left out for the first T20, which was lost poorly by the Pakistani side. Then for the sake of trying, Asad was put in place of Fawad Alam, he played the following Test series, which Pakistan won 1-0. There he scored a noticeable 83 runs.

The tremendous English side and the Spanish giants remain the only unbeaten teams in Europe. The English side Manchester City is currently enjoying their best season and the Catalan giants despite of the poor show have somehow managed to keep the defeat away from their fixtures.

It has been quite a treat to watch Pakistan chunking up one victory after another, bowling functionally like well-oiled machine time and time again. Spinners have been extra ordinary; it will take quite sometime for another side to come up with an equivalent spin attack left alone a better one. Googlies, doosras, top-spin, sliders, arm-balls; just everything that a spinner can possess was thrown up to us by the player who grew up playing as one of the best spinners that the game has ever seen. Fast bowling line up was also fantastic though they did not have much to show in terms of wickets. Gull has been red hot all the series, with little more luck he could have easily ended up with top wicket taker title. Cheema was impressive as was the wonder-boy Junaid.

Janko Tipsarevic defeats fellow Serb and world no.1 Novak Djokovic. Meanwhile, Berdych qualifies for the semifinals with an enthralling win over Ferrer which ends all title hopes for Djokovic In the doubles, J Melzer/P  Petzschner secured their first win over R Lindstedt / H Tecau.   

A sensational spell of bowling from Aizaz Cheema and a captain's knock from Misbah-ul-Haq secured Pakistan a tense but well deserved 5 wickets win in the onlyTwenty20 game. Aizaz Cheema picked up 4 wickets for 30 runs as he bowled a quick hostile spell and Misbah coupled a direct hit run-out of Anjelo Mathews and two catches with a unbeaten 38 ball 48. The performances stood out in what was a thrilling game that went into the final over with the game hanging in the balance.

Earlier in the day withSri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan won the toss and elected to bat in the only Twenty20 game of the tour. The Manatory Poweplay was an Expensive one! Sri Lanka managed to get 63 runs in the first six overs with only two wickets falling. The fielding by Pakistan, in the beginning, was lazy today with Pakistan leaving Some pretty easy catches but then some agile fielding brought Pakistan back and in the end they failed to put Cheema away. The under-pressure Tillakaratne Dilshan was on his way with a smack through the covers while Upul Tharanga thrashed Umar Gul for two fours through the off side, one of them over the in-field. Aizaz Cheema ended Tharanga's stay, beating him for pace with an inswinger, but was taken out of the attack after being struck for two fours, lofted over mid-on by Dilshan and creamed past point by Dinesh Chandimal, who guided the rest of the innings.