Former South Africa batsman Jonty Rhodes has refuted reports suggesting that he has been enlisted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) as a consultant coach. A recent report from a Sri Lankan news outlet stated that SLC has appointed not only Jonty Rhodes but Bharat Arun and Alex Kountouri as well for the role of assistant coaches. The report stated that the trio would provide advanced training to local cricket coaches, trainers, and physios.
Jonty Rhodes is widely regarded as one of the best fielders of all time and has plied his trade as a fielding coach for several top-profile teams. On the other hand, Bharat Arun served as the fast-bowling coach of Team India while Alex Kountouri served as the physiotherapist of the Sri Lankan team in the past.
However, Jonty Rhodes has denied the reports. On Friday (January 19), he took to X to react to the news. Sharing the fake report of his appointment, he wrote: “Hmmmm @ThePapareSports this is news to me”
Hmmmm @ThePapareSports this is news to me #checkyourfacts https://t.co/Ok0kwLsJe4
— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) January 19, 2024
Talking about Sri Lankan cricket, they recently suffered an embarrassing defeat against Zimbabwe in the ongoing T20I series. Chasing 174 in the second T20I, Zimbabwe needed 20 runs in the final over and Angelo Mathews ended up conceding all the runs. Sri Lanka then bounced back to win the third game by 9 wickets and sealed the series 2-1.
Jonty Rhodes as coach:
Jonty Rhodes plied his trade as a cricketer for South Africa from 1992 to 2003. He represented the Proteas in 52 Tests from 1992 to 2000 and 245 ODIs from 1992 to 2003. In Tests, he scored 2532 runs while in ODIs, he scored 5935 runs.
After bringing an end to his playing career in 2005, Jonty Rhodes began his career as a fielding coach. He served as a fielding coach for Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He also served as the batting coach of the Punjab-based outfit Before the start of 2023 season of IPL, he was roped in by Lucknow Super Giants as their fielding coach.
