Batting coach Vikram Rathour backs India's misfiring batters ahead of 2nd Test

VISAKHAPATNAM: India batting coach Vikram Rathour backed Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer who have struggled to put runs on the board recently ahead of the second Test against England.

Shubman in the recently concluded series against South Africa could only muster up 74 runs in two-match Test series.

On the other hand, Shreyas amassed 41 runs in the two-match Test series. In the opening game against England, the right-handed batter scored 48 runs across both innings, while, Shubman put up just 23 runs in both innings.

"There are two, three batters in our team, Somebody like (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill, eventually they will start getting runs, start getting big runs. So we need to be patient with them," Rathour said in the pre-match press conference.

Ahead of the second Test, the Men's Selection Committee have added Sarfaraz Khan, Sourabh Kumar and Washington Sundar to India's squad. Meanwhile, this was the maiden call for Sarfaraz in the Test squad.

Sarfaraz could be in contention for the second Test after KL Rahul was ruled out of the clash due to pain in his right quadriceps.

In the Ranji Trophy 2021/22 season, Sarfaraz slammed 982 runs at a stunning average of 122.75. However, there are other options available with Sourabh Kumar, Washington Sundar and Rajat Patidar in the squad.

When quizzed about the player who could feature in the playing XI, Rathour stated that the decision would eventually be made by head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma.

"It will be a tough choice. What value they bring to the team, of course, is that they are superb players. We have seen how well they have done in domestic cricket in the last few years," Rathour said on which player could feature in the 2nd Test.

"So on these kind of wickets, I think they can really add a lot of value to the team. If we have to pick just one out of them, of course, it would be tough. But, that decision will be made by Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma,"

Rathour added. India will face England at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Friday.