India batting coach Vikram Rathour has given a vote of confidence to the struggling vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane, who scored a duck in the second innings at Oval to add to his knock of 14 runs in the first innings, has managed just 109 runs in 7 innings of the ongoing Test series against England.

Rahane has managed just one half-century in the series which came at Lord’s, but since then, he has not managed to play an innings that instills confidence in fans and experts alike that he is getting back in form with the bat.

Rathour backed Rahane to come good in the fifth Test at Manchester and mentioned that time has not come yet to worry about his form and he is just going through a tough phase.

"When you are playing cricket for such a long time, you will have phases, where you will not get runs, and that is the time as a team we need to back them and support them as much as we can. We saw with Pujara also, him getting more opportunities and he has come back and played a couple of very important innings for us.

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So, we are hoping that Ajinkya will get back into form and he will still play a major role in the Indian team's batting so, I don't think we have arrived to that point where it should become a concern,” Rathour said during a virtual press conference on Sunday.

Asked whether Rahane was facing technical issues or it was a mental block, Rathour said: "When you are playing such an important series like this one and when you are playing in conditions which are tough for batting, we are playing against such a disciplined bowling attack which is bowling well, as a batting unit, technique is the last thing we should be thinking."

England ended day four on 77/0 and need 291 runs on the final day to win the Test, while India needs to pick 10 wickets in 90 overs to register a win and go 2-1 up in the series.

(PTI inputs)