The All India Senior Selection Committee led by MSK Prasad may not have considered Jonty Rhodes for the job of Team India’s head coach, but one thing even they cannot take away from the veteran South Africa fielder is his honesty.
During 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 Team India’s current fielding 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,” Rhodes was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Later on, he revealed why he applied for the role in the first place. As a reply to which, the former Proteas cricketer 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.”
Rhodes has been in India for a long time and even served as the fielding coach of Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the South African didn’t just miss out on Sridhar. He was not in any of the top three choices.
Abhay Sharma and T Dilip respectively pipped him to the second and third position, and according to chief selector Prasad, those roles were not for the Proteas legend.
