Former India Opener Vikram Rathour Favourite For Batting Coach Job: Report

Former India batsman Vikram Rathour is a strong candidate to take over as the batting coach of Indian cricket team, a report in TOI suggests. The 50-year-old has been been in the fray to be named as batting consult at NCA or the coach of India A in recent times but his appointment was held back due to conflict of interest issues.

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He later threw his hat in the ring to be India’s batting coach and could be next coach of Men in Blue. Rathour played six Test and seven ODIs.

In a career that spanner for around 15 seasons, he also played 146  first-class matches in which he scored 11473 runs. In 99 List A matches, he scored 3161 runs. Rathour has also coached Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in domestic cricket.

Rathour served as a national selector from 2012 to 2016 before MSK Prasad-led selection panel replaced Sandeep Patil-led panel.

Sanjay Bangar is the present assistant coach cum batting coach of the Indian cricket team and there are strong chances that the board might not renew his contract. He had joined India’s backroom staff in 2014.

While Bangar’s contract might not be renewed, there are high chances of Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun getting their contracts renewed. Shastri already has the backing of skipper Virat Kohli.

Under him, team India created history by defeating Australia in Australia in Tests. They also reached the semi-final of World Cup 2019.

Talking of Bharat Arun, he has created a strong pool of bowlers across formats. The bowling combination is such that even seniors have to warm bench on occasions and have to wait for their chance in Tests.

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R Sridhar, the fielding coach, is also a strong candidate to continue the role but since Jonty Rhodes has also applied for the job, BCCI will surely give weightage to his candidature. Rhodes spent nine years at Mumbai Indians and it’s the first time that he has applied for a job at Indian cricket team.

The report in TOI also adds that the board is keen on getting a local coach, who could understand the language of Indian players.