India Team Is Looking To Improve In All Formats Prior To T20 World Cup: Batting Coach Vikram Rathour

Thiruvananthapuram: Before India take on South Africa in the first of the three T20 International in Thiruvananthapuram, India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour said the team is looking to improve in all three departments of the game prior to the T20 World Cup next month in Australia.

He also said that dew was a negative factor in India’s performances while chasing targets in the recently concluded Asia Cup. Rathour has blamed the dew as a reason for India’s struggles while defending targets.

“We are working on that area of getting better at defending targets. But to be fair to our bowlers, the 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.

“I won’t be harsh on bowlers as they have been able to push the match till the 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,” said Rathour.

“I think batting first was one of the concerns during the last T20 World Cup, but since then, we have been putting up par or par plus scores every time that we have batted first. So I don’t think that’s an issue,” Rathour added.

“There is a very visible shift in the way we are batting. The approach has changed. We are trying to be more aggressive, we are playing with better strike rates and more intent. That is pretty evident. As a batting unit, we have done well,” said Rathour.

After the completion of the T20I series, the two teams will take part in the ODI series slated to be played from 6th October.