No Jonty Rhodes As Bangladesh Fielding Coach Ahead of Australia Series
Jul 17, 2017 at 2:56 PM
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director and Cricket Operations Committee Chairman Akram Khan has revealed that despite talks with Jonty Rhodes for the role of the fielding coach they are yet to finalise a deal with the former Proteas legend. It has been speculated for months that BCB will rope in the services of Rhodes which hasn’t been the case yet.
“Jonty is very busy. He could not work for a long time. Our talks with him are going on. If he agrees to work with us, he will then come here for a short term. He will work and share his experience with our national players besides high performance and our others teams also,” Akram was quoted as saying by the bd crictime.
“Before the concluded ICC Champions Trophy, we’re talking with him. Actually, it’s difficult to get big names’ players for the longer period. He will work for two-three weeks if he agrees. He will come here at the gap of his time,” he added. The director almost ruled out the prospect of Rhodes getting hired ahead of their next home Test series against top ranked Australia. “There is less possibility of getting him ahead of the upcoming home series against Australia. He has not confirmed us yet,” Khan said.
Rhodes is currently the fielding coach of the most successful IPL outfit, the Mumbai Indians and has been with the team for a long time. His inputs have been vital to Mumbai performing so well on the field for most of the seasons. He has kept the basics simple and his inclusion might help the Bangla Tigers regain their lost confidence in the fielding department.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh has been playing some terrific brand of cricket of late and for the very first time in their cricketing history, they managed to qualify for the semi final of a major ICC event when they locked horns with India in the semi-final of the recently concluded Champions Trophy. They have also won Tests against top ranked sides in the past few months and the upcoming Test series against Australia might have some special in store for them.