T20 World Cup 2021: “One of the factors is definitely the pitch” - Vikram Rathour on India’s batting woes

India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has stated that the pitch has been one of the factors behind the team’s batting struggles in the T20 World Cup 2021. Rathour pointed out that not only India but other sides batting first, too, have also had a tough time.

India have lost both their matches in the T20 World Cup 2021 so far. They were sent into bat after losing the toss in both games. The batters failed to make an impression against Pakistan and New Zealand, going down by 10 and eight wickets respectively.

Speaking at a press conference, Rathour said that batting first on surfaces in the UAE has definitely been tough. Trying to explain India’s twin batting failures, he said:

“One of the factors is definitely the pitch. When you bat first on these surfaces, even though it doesn’t look uneven, there is variation in pace and bounce. So, strike rotation is an issue. It is not only with our team.

"I think for every team that has batted first, this has been an issue," he added. "Unfortunately, we were not able to execute the big shots well. That will happen once in a while. That happened to us in the last game when nobody could execute the big hits. But, as such, it is more to do with the surface.”

Rathour disagreed with the assessment that India do not have a back-up finisher for Hardik Pandya, who has not been in good form. The batting coach countered:

"We have Jadeja in the team as well who I think is a fabulous finisher. Players like Surya (Suryakumar Yadav), players like Virat have done well for us in the past. We have enough players who can do the job, I do not see any issue.

"Of course, when you pick the team for World Cup, you have a slight restriction where you can pick just 15," he added. "That's the way it is. I think we have enough in our batting. Unfortunately, we have just not been able to execute our plans.”

Jadeja was India’s top-scorer for India against New Zealand. He scored an unbeaten 26 as India were held to 110 for 7.

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“At this moment, the focus is to play good cricket” - Vikram Rathour on net run rate scenario for India

Having lost their first two matches by big margins, India must win their remaining three games comprehensively and hope the other results go their way to make the semis.

Asked if India are thinking about the run rate scenario, Rathour responded that, for now, they just want to focus on playing good cricket.

“Not really, we won’t be good at maths anyways being cricketers," he said. "At this moment, the focus is to play good cricket and to win the remaining three games. The calculations will come into the picture when we go into the last game and when the other results are out. So, at this moment, there is no focus on calculating the net run rate.”

India will face Afghanistan in their next T20 World Cup 2021 clash in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.