File image of Jonty Rhodes© BCCI
The first Test between India and Bangladesh will kick-start from September 19 at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. India, who last played the longest format against England in March this year, will be aiming for the crucial World Test Championship (WTC) points with this series. Under the guidance of head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma, the T20 World Cup 2024 winners eye a dominating outing against Bangladesh. This series will also mark former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel’s first assignment as India’s new bowling coach.
One of the biggest surprises which came during Gambhir’s coaching era was that South Africa great was not appointed as the fielding coach.
Known for his lightning fast fielding, Rhodes is a renowned fielding coach in the IPL. Both Gambhir and Rhodes came together during IPL 2022 in Lucknow Super Giants, where the former was the team mentor while the latter was the fielding coach.
Despite having Gambhir’s backing, Rhodes was not appointed as Team India’s fielding coach as the BCCI retained T Dilip for the role.
Rhodes, who is currently living in Goa, recently opened up about how he felt after getting sidelined for the role by the Indian board.
“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),” the South African said during a podcast on Aleena Dissects YouTube channel.
“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, the importance of fitness and strength,” he added.
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