New Batting Coach Vikram Rathour Keen To Solve No 4 Conundrum

From the middle-order conundrum to man-management skills, the newly appointed batting coach shares his vision for Team India

Newly appointed Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour has acknowledged that the Indian middle-order has not been able to perform in limited-overs cricket and that's something which he will look to sort out in the coming days. “It is not just about the World Cup. It is one slot (we must look at). The middle-order in one-day is not doing well and we must, of course, sort it out,” Rathour said about the much-debated No.4 slot while speaking to bcci.tv. “Shreyas Iyer has done well in the last couple of games and we also have Manish Pandey. These two guys have done very well in domestic cricket and with India A. These are the batters who are capable of doing the job and I have no doubt about it in my mind,” he added.

EXCLUSIVE: Great time for me to be taking up batting coach's role: Vikram Rathour tells @Moulinparikh From the middle-order conundrum to man-management skills, the newly appointed batting coach shares his vision for #TeamIndia Full interview 📖https://t.co/9GC0reeNCO pic.twitter.com/6kpd4RbQOt

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 6, 2019

While in Tests, India don't have the problem of who will bat at No.4 with Kohli making the position his own, the opening slots have been a worry for quite some time. With Prithvi Shaw suspended, India went with just two openers—K.L. Rahul and Mayank Agarwal—for the two-Test series in against the Windies. While Agarwal did seem to be in control, Rahul didn't play any substantial knock. “The other area of concern is the opening partnership in Tests. We have options and there is healthy competition. We need to find a way for them to be more consistent,” said Rathour. The newly appointed batting coach insisted that he wants to create an environment in the dressing room where players are not scared of making mistakes. His first assignment as batting coach will be the upcoming series against South Africa, which will see India play three T20Is and as many Tests, beginning September 15.