Vikram Rathour on Suryakumar Kumar and Ishan Kishan being benched: “They have this understanding that somebody else is doing well”

Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour has asserted that Suryakumar Kumar and Ishan Kishan, who have been in the reserves for the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka, are mature enough to understand why they are sitting out. He added that both are working and training hard while waiting for their chance.

There have been mixed views on the Indian management’s decision to bench Suryakumar and Kishan for the ongoing one-day series against Sri Lanka.

Skipper Rohit Sharma made it clear at the pre-series conference that Shubman Gill would play ahead of Kishan, given he had done well as an opener on a consistent basis.

Playing without both Suryakumar and Kishan, India have clinched the three-match series with a game to spare. At a press conference ahead of the third ODI in Thiruvananthapuram, Rathour was asked about the kind of communication between the team management and players like Surya and Ishan, who are forced to sit out. He replied:

“They are not really forced. The others are doing well as well. There is nobody doing badly. As players, they have this understanding that somebody else is doing well. They’ll need to wait for the opportunity. They are preparing for that.

"They are working and training hard. Whenever the opportunity comes, hopefully they will do well and hold on to their places.”

Rathour added that having an exceptional talent like Suryakumar in the reserves for the one-day squad is something great. Hailing the Mumbai batter, he commented:

“He has great potential. He has been in great form lately in T20Is. It’s great to have him in the reserves. Hopefully, when the opportunity comes, he will take that opportunity and do well for the team. It’s great to have such versatile players in the team.”

While Suryakumar has been sensational in T20Is, he averages only 32 in ODIs after 16 matches, with two half-centuries.

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“At the moment, he has been picked as an opener” - Vikram Rathour on Ishan Kishan

During the press conference, Rathour admitted that Kishan had been picked in the team for the ODI series against Sri Lanka as an opener. Asked if there was any chance of the left-hander being tried in the middle order, he replied:

“At the moment, he has been picked in the team as an opener. But again, as a batting unit, we are pretty flexible and if the management feels there is a need for us to try somebody like Ishan in the middle-order, we might.”

Kishan broke the record for the fastest men’s ODI double hundred in his last appearance in the format. He smacked 210 off 131 balls against Bangladesh in Chattogram.