MSK Prasad explains reason behind picking R Sridhar over Jonty Rhodes as India’s fielding coach

When Jonty Rhodes applied for the post of Team India’s fielding coach, there were very few who doubted that he would lose the race. The reasons behind the same are obvious. Rhodes is one of the best if not the best fielders the game has ever witnessed. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that he played international cricket more because of his unbelievable fielding skills than his batting skills.

However, R Sridhar pipped Rhodes to retain his post of Team India’s fielding coach. The senior national selection committee headed by MSK Prasad recommended his name on Thursday, much to everyone’s surprise. In fact, Rhodes was not even in the 3-man shortlist. Sridhar, Abhay Sharma, and T Dilip made the 3-man shortlist for the fielding coach role.

The baffling turn of events did raise a number of eyebrows before MSK Prasad explained the rationale behind the decision. Prasad revealed that Rhodes’ name was not added to the final shortlist as the second and the third names on the list will be considered for India A level and National Cricket Academy support staff. He also hailed Sridhar as one of the best fielding coaches in the world.

“We are convinced with skill sets of R Sridhar, he is supposed to be one of the best fielding coaches in the world today,” MSK Prasad said.

“He (Sridhar) is one of the best fielding coaches. Unfortunately, in the World Cup, there were two three keepers in the side, the combinations were like that. He has transformed this into a wonderful fielding unit so, so there is no second thought with regard to R Sridhar. We don’t see Jonty fitting in there, because those roles are more for India A level and NCA,” he was quoted by Sportstar.

Vikram Rathour replaces Sanjay Bangar as India’s batting coach

Among other support staff, former opener Vikram Rathour will replace Sanjay Bangar as the batting coach. On the other hand, Bharat Arun has retained his post of a bowling coach. Ravi Shastri has already been re-appointed as the head coach.

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