Hyderabad: In an unexpected twist, former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes explicitly refused his appointment as a consultant coach for Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) despite the official announcement on Thursday. This happened after, SLC announced the executive committee’s decision in a press release on January 18 which states that in one of the several steps to advance cricket in Sri Lanka, (Jonty) Rhodes' has been appointed to train local coaches and trainers.
The statement from the press release read, "Sri Lanka Cricket decided to obtain the services of some of the best-known talents in international cricket to provide advanced training for local coaches, trainers, and physiotherapists to enhance their skills and competencies by conducting periodic training programs in selected areas."
"Towards this, the Executive Committee decided to obtain the services of former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes, who is a specialist fielding coach—former India National Team fast bowling coach Bharat Arun—and former Sri Lanka National Team physiotherapist Alex Kountouri," stated the press release.
However, on Friday, the 54-year-old was surprised by the development and took to his ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, saying, "Hmm. This is news to me #checkyourfacts." After further clarification from the page that reported the news, Rhodes continued to express his surprise. The right-hand batter is currently the fielding coach of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Durban Super Giants (DSG) in South Africa’s SA20 tournament. Earlier, he has also previously been with the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) for the role.
