Having Jonty Rhodes as the fielding coach is nothing less than a dream for any team in the world. The former South Africa star is widely regarded as the best fielder to have ever graced the game. But despite his credentials, he failed to get the job of India’s fielding coach last year. Rhodes was one of the high profile names who had applied for the post but he missed out as the BCCI re-appointed R Sridhar as the fielding coach.

In fact, Rhodes’ application did not even make the cut for the interviews. While Sridhar bagged the job, Abhay Sharma and T Dilip finished second and third in the list respectively. At that time, MSK Prasad, whose selection panel had picked the fielding coach, had said that Rhodes’ application was more for India A and National Cricket Academy level.

“We don’t see Jonty (Rhodes) fitting in there (choice Nos 2 and 3) because those roles are more for India A level and NCA,” Prasad had said.

Well, the legendary fielder recently revealed the reason behind BCCI rejecting him for the post. One of his followers on Twitter recently asked him for the reason of not becoming India’s fielding coach. Rhodes noticed the tweet and decided to respond to it. In a cheeky dig at the Indian cricket board, the South African wrote: They said “no thanks”.

They said "no thanks" https://t.co/cuyZWNB5hQ

— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) March 7, 2020

After being rejected for the job, Rhodes had also commented on the same. The ex-cricketer had said that Sridhar got the advantage as he has worked with the current crop of players while lauding the efforts made by the Indian fielders in recent times.

“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 had said.

Another IPL stint for Jonty Rhodes

Jonty Rhodes, meanwhile, is gearing up for another stint with an IPL team. Having previously worked with Mumbai Indians, Rhodes will serve as the fielding coach of Kings XI Punjab in the upcoming season. The thirteenth edition of the league starts on March 29 with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings.