IND vs ENG 2024: Need to be patient with likes of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer: Vikram Rathour

Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour feels they need to be patient with Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer. The batting duo failed to deliver in the opening Test match against England at Hyderabad.

While Gill returned with scores of 23 and 0 in the opening Test match, Iyer could only manage 35 and 13 at Hyderabad.

Gill could only score 74 runs at an average of 18.50 in the two Test matches against South Africa and thus the pressure is building on the youngster.

Iyer has scored 755 runs in 13 Test matches whereas Gill has scored 1063 runs in 21 Test matches.

“There are young batters in our team who have not played much Test cricket. So, we need to be a bit patient with them. Batters like (Shubman) Gill, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and (Shreyas) Iyer will eventually start getting big runs, I’m sure of it,” Rathour said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Rathour said he wants his batters to play with intent. Indian batters adopted a sedate approach in the second innings while chasing 231 at Hyderabad and it led to their downfall.

“There’s a difference between playing with intent and playing attacking cricket. I want them to play with intent. If there is the opportunity to score some runs, they should take it,” Rathour said. “They need to decide by looking at the surface and conditions. So, the batters need to possess that intelligence as to which is the best or safest shot on the surface.”

The former Indian batter feels the hosts batters could have batted with more discipline in the second essay.

“Could they have batted with more discipline? Maybe they could have. That’s what they need to decide and come up with their plans,” he said.

“But, they need to score runs by playing their shots, as you need to back your strengths. Batting is always about scoring runs. It’s not about not getting out but how many runs you put on the board,” he said.

The second Test match between India and England will be played at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam from 2nd February.