Former South Africa international Jonty Rhodes has confirmed his application for the position of India men’s cricket team’s fielding coach.
Jonty is considered as one of the greatest fielders world cricket has ever witnessed. It will be an absolute pleasure for any team to have the South African as their fielding coach. He has previously worked at this position for IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.
While speaking to CricketNext, Jonty explained why he would be the perfect candidate for the job and why he would love to work with one of the best team in the world. His love for India has been evident with the fact that he has named his daughter after the country.
“Yes, I have applied for the position of India’s new fielding coach. My wife and I love the country, and it has already given us so much — we have 2 children born in India. I have spent 9 seasons as MI fielding coach based in Mumbai. I have seen incredible growth in athleticism and fielding ability in India over the past 5 years and really respect what has been achieved,” Rhodes said.
His term with the Mumbai Indians ended after IPL 2017 and since then he has spent most of his time focusing on development and grassroots coaching.
“I like to think there are a few elements that I can add to what they have already achieved. I have spent two years away from high-performance coaching and have spent most of my time focusing on development and grassroots coaching. I am a coach who loves coaching and let’s face it, the Indian cricket team is the busiest in the world, so great opportunity to be busy and doing what you love amongst players and a team that I really respect,” the 49-year-old added.
Rhodes also has a vision for the Indian parents who don’t allow their children to take risks.
“I have seen from my time in India that parents don’t let their children take many risks, and my vision would be for the Indian team not to just be the team with lowest drop catch percentage, but also the team with highest half-chance opportunity taken,” he said.
BCCI will accept job applications until 5 pm (IST) on July 30.
