India batting coach Vikram Rathour reacted to England’s victory in the first Test in Hyderabad saying that they expect the opponents to win in India as well. England posted a 28-run win in Hyderabad in the first of the five Tests.
Ollie Pope’s 196 turned things around in the second innings for England despite a 190-run deficit which helped them set a 231-run target for India. Then Tom Hartley bamboozled the spun Indian batting order picking 7/62 on his Test debut as India folded for 202 runs and lost by 28 runs.
Speaking about the same ahead of the second India-England Test in Vizag, Vikram Rathour said that since India has won Tests in South Africa, England, and Australia, they expect England to win in India as well.
"They (England) were brave. They took their chances, which worked for them. The kind of innings Pope played was exceptional. I haven't seen too many playing such a knock against our bowling attack. I don't think (there's any pressure). We are expected to win while playing in India, and the boys are used to that by now.
The message to them from the support staff is to play good cricket and not bother about results too much. The other teams also come well-prepared. Since we have won Test matches in Australia, England and South Africa, we also expect them to win a Test in India,” Rathour said at a press conference in Vizag.
He further talked about the severe criticism of batters Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer and said that they deserve patience amid their current poor run.
"There are young batters in our team who have not played much Test cricket. So, we need to be a bit patient with them. Batters like (Shubman) Gill, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and (Shreyas) Iyer will eventually start getting big runs, I'm sure of it," Rathour said.
Although Jaiswal played a knock of 80 in the first innings of his fifth Test, Gill and Iyer failed to fire, continuing their struggles in the format. While Gill has played 21 Tests, Iyer has appeared in 13 five-day games. Gill hasn't scored a 50 in his last nine Test innings.
Rathour said he expects better application from the side's batters in the second Test where the home team will once again miss the services of the redoubtable Virat Kohli.
“There's a difference between playing with intent and playing attacking cricket. I want them to play with intent. If there is the opportunity to score some runs, they should take it. They need to decide by looking at the surface and conditions. So, the batters need to possess that intelligence as to which is the best or safest shot on the surface," he explained.
Rathour said that India batters lacked discipline in the second innings of the Hyderabad Test.
"Could they have batted with more discipline? Maybe they could have. That's what they need to decide and come up with their plans. But, they need to score runs by playing their shots, as you need to back your strengths. Batting is always about scoring runs. It's not about not getting out but how many runs you put on the board,” he said.
Rathour said that while England used sweep shots quite well to blunt the effectiveness of Indian spinners, it is not an easy stroke that can be added overnight to a player's repertoire.
“You need to be prepared for that by practicing it. If you add more shots to your game, it's always beneficial. We played traditionally. The strength of strong areas is going straight when it comes to using our feet. We can keep doing that, and of course, if we can add more shots and score through the square of the wicket, that's always an addition," he said.
The second Test in Vizag will begin on February 2nd.
(PTI inputs)
