Jonty Rhodes is regarded as the greatest fielder ever. But the selection committee of MSK Prasad which conducted interviews of nine candidates for Team India's fielding coach among other positions, did not find the South African legend worthy of even being shortlisted in their Top Three preferred candidates. Prasad & Co intend to retain R Sridhar after naming him as their first preference followed by Abhay Sharma and T Dilip. Yesterday's appointments will be confirmed by the BCCI once they are cleared of conflict of interest.

Rhodes parted ways with Mumbai Indians as their fielding coach in 2017 after being associated for nine years. Sridhar was expected to be retained after doing a fabulous job in lifting the Indian team's fielding standards stupendously, but with Rhodes applying for the fielding coach's post, it became an interesting battle. Prasad said they were convinced with Sridhar's skill set. "R Sridhar is supposed to be one of the best fielding coaches in the world today. Unfortunately, in the World Cup, there were two to three wicketkeepers in the side because the combinations were like that. He has transformed this into a wonderful fielding unit, so there is no second thought with regard to Sridhar," he said.