IND vs SA 2022: “There’s been dew” - Vikram Rathour backs bowlers over Team India’s inability to defend big totals

Team India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has blamed dew for the side’s inability to defend good totals in recent T20I matches. Stating that he wouldn’t be too harsh on bowlers, the former opener added that they are working on improving in that particular area.

The Men in Blue failed to defend decent totals against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Super 4 round of the Asia Cup in the UAE. India then went down to Australia by four wickets in Mohali despite posting 208 on the board.

The hosts came back well to win the series 2-1. Significantly, they batted second on both occasions. India are now preparing to take on South Africa in a three-match T20I series.

The first game will be played in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, September 28. Speaking ahead of the series, Rathour backed the bowling department despite their disappointing returns in recent games. He said:

“We are working on that area. We are looking to get better at defending targets. To be fair to our bowlers, toss plays a pretty vital role. The places where we haven’t been able to defend are the places where there’s been dew. So it gets easier to chase.

“I won't be too harsh on bowlers as they have been able to push the match till the last over, every time, when we are looking to defend. It's one ball here and there but of course we are doing pretty well but hopefully we will get better.”

Australia needed 40 off the last three overs in the Mohali T20I. Harshal Patel conceded 22 runs in the 18th over, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave away 16 in the 19th as India let the game slip from their grasp.

---

“There is a very visible shift in the way that we are batting” - Vikram Rathour

During the press conference, Rathour also dismissed concerns that India haven’t been able to put up big scores consistently.

He agreed that the issue existed until the last T20 World Cup, but asserted that they have improved significantly since the ICC event. The 53-year-old said:

“When you say that we haven’t been able to put up scores, I don’t agree with that. When batting first, that was one of the concerns. Since the last T20 World Cup, we have been putting up par or plus par scores every time that we have batted first."

Rathour added:

“There is a very visible shift in the way that we are batting. We are being more aggressive. We are playing with better strike rates and more intent. I think as a batting unit we have been able to do well.”

After the first T20I on Wednesday, India and South Africa will play the remaining two games of the series on October 2 (Guwahati) and October 4 (Indore).