IND vs SA: India Batting Coach Vikram Rathour Back India Bowlers; Blames Dew For Not Being Able To Defend Totals Since Asia Cup 2022

Indian team’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has defended the Indian bowlers and said that the only reason why the Indian team has faltered in protecting the totals bowling second is due to dew, especially in the recent Asia Cup 2022.

India had comfortably qualified for the super 4s stage of the Asia Cup 2022 by beating Pakistan and Hong Kong. But then everything unraveled as India lost to Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super 4s stage by 4 wickets each as they failed to defend totals in both matches.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave away almost 20 runs in both matches in the 19^th over which is highly crucial and that’s when India felt the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the tournament due to a back injury.

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

Since the Super 4s of the Asia Cup, India has played six T20Is and won three of them while losing three. The third one came against Australia in the first T20I of the series, where the Kangaroos chased down more than 200 runs to win the match.

“We are working on that area of getting better at defending targets. But to be fair to our bowlers, toss plays a vital role and every time we have not been able to defend are the places where there has been dew, so it gets easier to chase,” Rathour said on the eve of the first T20I against South Africa here on Wednesday.

However, unlike Rathour, none of the Indian team members blamed the dew for their losses in Super 4s of Asia Cup 2022.

“I won’t be harsh on bowlers as they have been able to push the match till last over, every time, when we are looking to defend. It’s one ball here and there but of course we are doing pretty well but hopefully we will get better,” the former India Test opener said.

India managed to win the three-T20I series against Australia, with both of their wins coming chasing.

We Expect Them (Bowling Unit) To Back Their Strengths: Vikram Rathour Ahead Of South Africa T20Is

Meanwhile, India will now be prepared to face South Africa in three T20Is starting September 28 and will see a bit of freshness in the bowling attack with Arshdeep Singh coming in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar in addition to Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel.

The batting coach also said that the team management never tries to coach people who are playing international cricket but rather encourages them to back their strengths.

Rathour stated: “At this level, we are not telling them anything. Arsh (Arshdeep Singh) has done extremely well in IPL in death overs, so we just support them to follow plans. They know where to bowl to each batter and follow their plans.

We expect them (bowling unit) to back their strengths. There are no specific areas I want Arshdeep to improve and he has the composure to handle pressure in difficult conditions.”

The first T20I will be played in Trivandrum.

Also Read: We Don’t Have A Finisher Like Hardik Pandya – Ex-Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi