Amid plenty of anticipation, Team India’s coaching staff was finalized last month. While Ravi Shastri (head coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach) retained their respective posts, Vikram Rathour replaced Sanjay Bangar from the position of batting coach.
Rathour pipped the likes of Mark Ramprakash, Pravin Amre, Jonathon Trott among others to secure this high-profile post.
Having bagged the job for the next two years, Rathour understands his responsibility and is now looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead for him.
"It's a big responsibility. As coaches and as members of the support staff, our job is to provide support to help them achieve bigger things in life as cricketers. I see myself supporting the team in whichever way I can. I will be working with the batters and I will be there to provide any technical help they might need," Rathour told bcci.tv.
"I think there will be a lot of discussions. I will be trying to understand their mindset and understand the decisions they will be making when they are batting. My prime job will be to prepare them in an ideal way before a series or a match. I will try and replicate things as close to the real scenario and get them ready," he added.
Rathour, who has represented India in 6 Tests and 7 ODIs, also believes that his coaching experience in the domestic circuit will help him in his latest job.
"I have played cricket for many years, but coaching is something you have to learn. Coaching is something very different from playing. I did Level A and B from BCCI and Level C from Cricket Australia. I learned this art. I think coaching is something that you keep getting better at.
"I want to create an environment where players aren't scared of making mistakes, where mistakes are not looked down upon because they are learning opportunities. You can fail once in a while, but you must learn from your failures and get better.
"I have worked with Mr Ravi Shastri, Mr B. Arun and Mr R Sridhar and also Mr Virat Kohli. I know the batters personally and share a good rapport with all of them. It is now about taking it to the next level," Rathour said.
