Sourav Ganguly explains rationale behind R Sridhar pipping Jonty Rhodes for India fielding coach job

The majority would have thought that Jonty Rhodes would be India’s new fielding coach when he applied for the post. The reasons were very obvious. The world has rarely seen a fielder like Rhodes. The former South Africa is arguably the finest fielder the game has ever witnessed. In fact, it would not be very wrong to say that Rhodes made a name for himself more for his fielding than his batting.

But in the end, the senior selection panel of India decided against the temptation of picking Rhodes and re-appointed R Sridhar as the fielding coach. Rhodes, in fact, did not even make it to the top-three after being interviewed. The MSK Prasad-led panel’s decision did raise a number of eyebrows. Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has now tried to explain the rationale behind picking Sridhar over Rhodes.

The legendary skipper was all praise for India as a fielding unit and credited Sridhar for it. He further said that having Indian coaches make it easy for the players to communicate. There were a number of overseas candidates in race for different posts in India’s backroom staff but not a single one could make it.

“I think Sridhar has done a good job. The Indian fielding has been very good. You saw that in the World Cup with Ravindra Jadeja leading the pack,” Ganguly said.

“I am a big supporter of Indian coaches because communication is good, they understand the mindset. I am not saying that overseas coaches are different. At one stage, during the transition period in 2000s, we needed overseas coaches to guide young players. Now, I am extremely happy that our own home-bred coaches are given priority which is good because they have put in a lot of effort,” he added.

Ganguly on Vikram Rathour’s appointment

Team India’s backroom staff will just have one change with Vikram Rathour replacing Sanjay Bangar as the batting coach. When asked about Rathour, Ganguly pointed out the hard work done by his former teammate and wished him for the new job.

“I have played with him. Our Test match debuts were in the same series. Vikram has worked hard at the grassroots level with Himachal Pradesh. I am the president of the Cricket Association of Bengal and I’ve dealt with him in the last four to five years in sending teams to Himachal. He’s risen from absolutely the basics of Ranji Trophy and has put in the hard yards with Himachal boys, so hopefully he does well,” he said.

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