“In India, there is always a conversation about the pitch” - Vikram Rathour downplays England players’ headline-grabbing comments on Ranchi surface 

Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour has downplayed comments made by a couple of senior England players on the Ranchi pitch ahead of the fourth Test, which begins on Friday, February 23. The former India opener described the Ranchi surface as a typical Indian wicket, but added that he was unsure about how much it would turn.

Speaking in the build-up to the fourth Test, Ollie Pope commented that there were a few cracks in the pitch, which looked ‘very platey’. On the other hand, England captain Ben Stokes claimed that he had never seen anything like the Ranchi surface.

At a pre-match press conference on Thursday, Rathour was asked for his views on all the chatter around the strip to be used for the fourth Test. He commented:

“In India, there is always a conversation about the pitch. This [Ranchi] looks like a typical Indian wicket and seems like it will turn. But I am not sure how much it will turn or when will it start to.

“We have the required balance in our team to deal with any situation,” Rathour asserted.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, England skipper Stokes shared his assessment of the Ranchi pitch and said:

"I've never seen something like that before. I have got no idea so I don't know what could happen. If you looked down one side of opposite ends it just looked different to what I am used to seeing, especially out in India."

"It looked green and grassy up in the changing rooms, but then you go out there it looked different: very dark and crumbly and quite a few cracks in it," he elaborated.

Meanwhile, England have confirmed their playing XI for the fourth Test. The Three Lions have made two changes to the team that turned out in Rajkot. Pacer Ollie Robinson and young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir have been included in place of Rehan Ahmed and Mark Wood.

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“It's the selectors' job to pick the 15” - Vikram Rathour on players skipping Ranji Trophy

Indian cricket has been in the news lately for players skipping the Ranji Trophy matches despite clear instructions from the BCCI to play domestic cricket. Asked about the same, Rathour replied:

"It's the selectors' job to pick the 15. This question is better asked to them. I used to be a selector but I'm not anymore. At the moment we see that people who have done well in domestic cricket are promoted. It's good everybody should get chances.”

Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan and Deepak Chahar did not play for their respective teams in round seven of the Ranji Trophy 2024 despite BCCI urging players to feature in the tournament.