Vikram Rathour dismisses concerns over KL Rahul’s form: “He has a hundred in South Africa and one in England”

Team India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has dismissed concerns over Test vice-captain KL Rahul’s form. Launching a strong defense of the opening batter, he pointed out that the 30-year-old has scored two hundreds and two fifties in his last 10 Test matches.

Rahul was dismissed for 20 on Day 1 of the ongoing Test against Australia in Nagpur. He chipped a simple return catch to debutant off-spinner Todd Murphy. Rahul has a highest score of 23 in his last eight Test innings.

There was some backlash on social media as cricket fans criticized the decision to drop in-form Shubman Gill for Rahul in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Asked if the Test vice-captain’s place is under the scanner, Rathour said at a post-match press conference:

“I wouldn’t be able to comment on that. To be fair to KL, in the last 10 Test innings (matches) that he has played, he has, I think, couple of hundreds and couple of fifties. He has a hundred in South Africa and one in England. He has a couple of fifties as well. So, I don’t think we are there.”

While Rahul struggled in Bangladesh while leading the team in the two-match Test series, Gill notched up his maiden hundred for India in red-ball cricket.

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“He was made to work really hard” - Vikram Rathour reflects on a special Rohit Sharma innings

While Rahul fell cheaply on Day 1 of the Test, Indian captain Rohit Sharma went on to convert his half-century into a memorable hundred on Friday, February 10. Rohit struck 15 fours and two sixes in his defiant 120 before being cleaned up by opposite number Pat Cummins.

Asked for his thoughts on the Indian captain’s innings, Rathour commented:

“Today’s innings was a very special innings because it wasn’t easy. He was made to work really hard. He showed a lot of good temperament to get to the runs that he scored. It was a very important innings from the team’s perspective. The surface wasn’t as good. Run-making wasn’t easy, so the kind of temperament he showed was really special.”

On the versatility of Rohit’s batting in Test matches, the former India opener added that he has the ability to adapt to situations. Rathour added:

“That’s the quality he has as a batter. He adapts really well. He is somebody who can change his game. We have seen how he bats in India and how he scored his runs in the series when he started playing as an opener against South Africa.

“When we traveled to England, he played completely differently on surfaces which required you to play tight cricket. Normally, after scoring initial runs, he likes to push to score quickly. But today he was made to work hard and he showed his adaptability again. He batted really well.”

After Rohit’s departure, Ravindra Jadeja (66*) and Axar Patel (52*) added an unbroken 81 runs for the eight-wicket. India went to stumps on Day 2 at 321/7, with a significant first-innings lead of 144.