Prasad reveals why Jonty didn’t make the cut in list of 3

Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS) India's chairman of selectors M.S.K. Prasad on Thursday cleared the air on why South African fielding great Jonty Rhodes had to leave empty-handed despite applying for the post of fielding coach as R. Sridhar was retained.

"R. Sridhar is one of the best fielding coaches in the world. Unfortunately in the World Cup, we had three wicket-keepers in the side and the combination was like that. Otherwise, he transformed the fielding unit so there is no second thought on that," Prasad said at the press conference here after the committee short-listed candidates for various coaching positions with Vikram Rathour, Bharat Arun and Sridhar on priority list for the role of the team's support staff.

"We don't see Jonty fitting in there because those roles are more for India A levels and for NCA," he said.

Rhodes was undoubtedly one of the biggest names to have applied for the job, but even head coach Ravi Shastri backed Sridhar who is now in the West Indies with the Indian team. Rhodes' name was not there in the top three picks for the fielding coach's position with Abhay Sharma and T. Dilip are the other two names short-listed along with Sridhar.

"In the last four-five years, the biggest improvement has been in fielding. And the endeavour is to make this side the best fielding team in the world. It's a clear diktat to whosoever wants to play in this team to have spectacular standard of fielding, especially in white ball cricket," Shastri had said after his re-appointment.

India's coaching staff, led by Shastri, was given a 45-day extension after their contract ended with the World Cup. While Shastri was re-appointed last week by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) comprising of Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and Shantha Rangaswamy, the support staff was picked by the national selectors.