Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour brushed aside the comments made by English players on the Ranchi pitch ahead of the fourth Test between the two sides set to start here at the JSCA International Stadium on Friday.
England top-order batter Ollie Pope had mentioned earlier that there are quite a few cracks on the pitch and termed the surface a “platey” one. His skipper Ben Stokes too chimed in saying he has never seen a pitch like the one in Ranchi.
“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,” said Rathour on the eve of the match.
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Rathour offered a few words of encouragement to the struggling Rajat Patidar, while also hinting that he might hold onto his spot in the Indian middle order. The right-handed batter has had a tough initiation into Test cricket, with the 30-year-old falling for single-digit scores in three of his first four innings.
“We have been having a lot of conversations with him [Patidar]. One thing he has to understand is that this is how this game works. He has been batting really well and scoring a lot of runs to get into the team.
“Two poor games don’t make him a bad player. He just had two tough games, couple of awkward dismissals, which can happen to anyone. There is absolutely no doubt that he is a good player. On his day, he will come up with an impactful innings,” said Rathour.
India made its task of sealing the series win in Ranchi a bit harder by opting to rest its premium pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Rathour though pointed out the need to manage the workload of the 30-year-old fast bowler.
“We would have loved to have Bumrah play all the games. Unfortunately, that is not advisable. The kind of workload he has had over the last three matches is immense. He has bowled really well and with a lot of heart. And with the kind of schedule we have, it made sense to give him a break. He is absolutely fine, physically,” said Rathour.
India will also be without KL Rahul, who failed to recover from a quadriceps injury. The Indian batting coach refused to dig into the BCCI report from over a week ago, which said that the middle-order batter was ‘90% fit.’
“For me either he [Rahul] is fit or he is not. At the moment he is not. I am not sure about the percent or what stage he is in. Only the medical team can confirm that. As far as we are concerned, he is not available and we are focussing on the team we have,” he added.
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