Jonty Rhodes reacts to his repudiation as India’s fielding coach

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has again been making headlines for its choices of the support staff. After receiving lots of criticism for rejecting Mike Hesson and Tom Moody, the board against took a similar step as they have re-appointed the former coach R Sridhar, as the fielding coach of the side.

The repudiation of someone like Jonty Rhodes raised the eyebrows of many pundits and fans. The three blokes who made it to the final three, were R Sridhar, Abhay Sharma & T Dilip. The fact that Rhodes couldn’t even make it to the top three, is a shock in itself. There were reports that the BCCI found the former Protea cricketer very expensive for the job, however, the senior committee head MSK Prasad later revealed that they thought that Sridhar is more familiar with the players, and hence, will be able to coordinate in a better way.

Prasad also revealed the reason behind Rhodes’ rejection from the final shortlist. Regarding the matter, he said as quoted by Sportstar, “With regards to the 2nd and 3rd position, we don’t see Jonty Rhodes fitting in there because those roles are more for India A levels and the NCA,”

Rhodes reacts to the rebuff

Meanwhile, Jonty Rhodes also reacted after he has failed to make the cut as India’s fielding coach. In an event in Chennai, he riposted for the first time, on this matter. The 50-year old told the media that he is probably not as good as the current coach R Sridhar.

“I am sure my interview was not as good as the one with the incumbent coach because he has been there for the last couple of years. Players have definitely worked with a plan. And you can see the progress as it just doesn’t happen. I am expecting that from an interview point of view – he kicked my butt,” said the South Africa-born in an event at Chennai.

Later on, he was also asked why he applied for the role in the first place. As a reply to which, the veteran said, “As a fielding coach I did a couple of years of coaching with the South African team till the 2007 World Cup. Since then, I have only worked in India. I am way more familiar with the cricketing set up in India than I am in South Africa,”

Apart from R Sridhar, Bharat Arun has also been able to retain his post as the bowling coach of India. There has been only one change in India’s support staff, i.e. the selection of Vikram Rathore, as the batting coach of India.

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