On the eve of the third and final ODI against Sri Lanka, India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour said that in-form batters Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav “understand” that they will have to wait for their chances in the 50-over format.

Both the players were not considered for the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka even though they have performed exceptionally well in white-ball cricket lately.

“They are not forced (to sit out), I mean, the others are doing good as well. As players they do understand that, and they need to wait for their opportunity, and they are preparing for that, they train hard and whenever that opportunity comes, they do well and hold on to their places,” Rathour told reporters on Saturday (January 14).

Kishan took the cricketing world by storm with his record-breaking 210 off 131 balls against Bangladesh in an ODI match last month. However, the southpaw failed to find a spot in India’s playing XI for the ongoing series against Sri Lanka as the team management decided to give Shubman Gill a fair run.

On the other hand, Surya is enjoying a prolific run in the shortest format and currently occupies the top spot in the ICC T20I batting rankings.

Asked if Ishan can bat in the middle order, Rathour said, “At the moment, he has been picked as an opener but as a batting unit we are flexible and if there is a need to try somebody like Ishan in the middle order, we might have to. At the moment though, he is being looked at as an opener.”

Talking about Surya, the batting coach said, “He has great potential, he has been in great form, it is great to have him in the reserve, and hopefully, when the time comes, he will take that opportunity and do well for the team. It is great to have such versatile player in the team.”

According to Vikram Rathour, “20 games are enough” to shortlist the core group of players for the ODI World Cup 2023.

“I think, 20 games are enough, if we can shortlist the players, that the core we are focusing on. As team management we do understand which are the players we are looking to focus on. If we have clarity then I think 20 games are enough to work on those certain areas.

“We have always been a good 50 over format team, just some areas to fine tune and 20 games are enough to do that.”

Team India may have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, but Rathour said the team requires improvements in certain areas in the final ODI.

“We have already won the series but there are few areas where we want to get better, we are looking to improve. This being a World Cup year, there are still areas we are working on and this is one more opportunity to do that against a decent team,” he concluded.

(With PTI inputs)