India batting coach Vikram Rathour on Saturday (June 19) said a first innings score of 250-plus will put India in a fighting position in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.

India ended the curtailed second day on 146 for 3 after being invited to bat first by the Kiwis. Skipper Virat Kohli (44*) and his deputy (29*) remained in the middle at the close of play.

"We would like to score as many runs as possible but 250 plus will be a reasonable score in these conditions," Rathour said at the day end press conference.

Batting in alien conditions, India got off to a decent start as the pair of Rohit Sharma (34) and Shubman Gill (28) added 62 runs for the opening wicket.

Praising the Indian openers, Rathour said: "Batting is about scoring runs. Rohit and Gill showed a lot of intent and looked to score wherever they can. Hats off to Virat and Rahane for the manner in which they batted but a lot of credit should also got to the openers."

According to Vikram Rathour, Dukes ball started swinging more after getting a bit old and hence scoring runs became difficult.

"I think when the ball got a bit older, it started swinging more. Also the New Zealand pacers hit good areas during the second session."

Rathour also dismissed saying that Cheteshwar Pujara is facing technical issues as he has now been hit at least four times on the helmet in recent Test matches.

"We are not really concerned and he is a good player. I don't think pace is an issue with him. Till he batted, he looked solid and he has a role to play in the team.

"Today also, he played 50 odd balls. He just needs to convert those starts. It's going to happen very soon," he concluded.

(With PTI inputs)