Team India entered a new phase under head coach Gautam Gambhir who replaced Rahul Dravid after the latter guided India to the T20 World Cup triumph in June earlier this year. This shift brought with it a significant overhaul of the support staff, as Gambhir was granted the freedom to assemble his own team. He was considering South Africa legend Jonty Rhodes for the role of Indian team’s fielding coach.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest fielders in cricket history, Rhodes had previously worked with Gambhir during their time together at IPL franchise, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). While Gambhir left LSG in 2023 to rejoin Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the 2024 season, Rhodes remained as LSG’s fielding coach.
Due to Rhodes’ long association with Indian cricket and his experience of coaching in the IPL, it came as no surprise when his name was considered for India’s fielding coach position. However, the BCCI ultimately decided to retain T Dilip, preferring to keep an Indian coach in the role.
Rhodes has now finally broken his silence on the matter, and he also revealed that Gambhir had indeed recommended his name for the role.
“Yeah! Can you believe it? I mean, they didn’t want an international coach, and I’m so local. I mean, mera naam Jonty Rhodes! (I’m Jonty Rhodes) Come on. I’m based in Goa. Maybe because I’m based in Goa. Maybe I need to be in a metro (city),” Rhodes said during a podcast on Aleena Dissects YouTube channel.
The South African, however, was all praise for the last 2 Indian fielding coaches, R Sridhar and T Dilip and also commended former captains MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli for raising fitness standards in the Indian team.
“I’ve taken my hats off to the last two Indian fielding coaches. And it comes from captaincy. Under Dhoni… he had a lot of senior guys, and he just showed his physical ability, he still does at the end of his IPL career. Running between the wickets…. amazing, and he’s 40. It’s incredible. He certainly showed, just through his example, teh importance of fitness and strength,” Rhodes said.
“Then Virat Kohli took over, and it was a part of the selection criteria. If you don’t pass the fitness standards, it doesn’t matter how good you are. Everybody was treated equally, and it took India to becoming a good fielding team,” Rhodes added.
