Team India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has backed under-fire players, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer ahead of the second Test against England. India lost the first test of the five-match series by 28 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer did not make much of an impact in the first Test. Gill batted at No. 3 for India, managing scores of 23 and 0 in the match. He has a great record for India in white-ball cricket but hasn’t been able to replicate the same in Tests. He averages 29.53, with 1063 runs in 21 matches.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer too got a start in the first innings of the first test, scoring 35 runs. However, he failed to build on it. He managed 17 runs in the second innings. He averaged 13.16 last year in Test cricket in four matches, while this year he has scored just 52 runs in two matches.
Ahead of the second test, speculations suggest India might drop either of Shubman Gill or Shreyas Iyer. However, batting coach Vikram Rathour has backed the duo.
“There is no question about their ability. They are both very very fine players,” said Rathour.
“People go through bad forms, bad patches where you don’t score runs as many as you want to. The thing we are looking at is how they are preparing and how their mindsets are,” he added.
Just a matter of time: Vikram Rathour
The second Test between India and England is set to take place from February 2 at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. India will be keen to make a comeback and level the series. Vikram Rathour expressed that Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer are preparing well for the upcoming match. He added that it’s just a matter of time before the duo strikes form.
“They are preparing really well, they are working hard in nets, having good conversations and right conversations, it’s just a matter of time I believe, one big performance will come from both of them,” said Vikram Rathour.
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