T20 World Cup 2024: India has experience and skills to deal with challenging New York pitch, says Rathour (2024)

PTI

India has enough experience and skills to deal with the Nassau County ground’s “challenging” pitch, which has caused concern with its uneven bounce, said batting coach Vikram Rathour. However, Rathour also conceded that the toss becomes crucial in such conditions.

Skipper Rohit Sharma had to curb his attacking instincts in a high-quality half-century during India’s eight-wicket thrashing of Ireland in its T20 World Cup opener on Wednesday. Rohit was forced to retire hurt shortly after copping a blow to his right bicep off Josh Little.

IND vs IRE, T20 World Cup 2024: Ireland falters on tricky surface as pacers hand India an easy eight-wicket win

Rishabh Pant was also hit on his left elbow during his unbeaten 36, another indication that the pitch had an uneven bounce with variable movement.

“We are trying to control the controllable. It was a challenging wicket and we were expecting a challenging wicket because we played a practice game here so we knew what to expect,” Rathour said in the post-match press conference.

“We need to find a way to deal with it and we have enough skills in the team and enough experience in the team to deal with it. We should be fine,” the former India opener said.

While conceding that winning the toss becomes vital in such conditions, he was not sure of a good first-innings total.

“The toss is crucial in conditions like these but fortunately, we won the toss so it was a great start, but you again can’t control that. Even if we lose the toss and we have to bat first, we still need to find ways to deal with the situation and the pitch,” he said.

With India slated to play two more matches including the blockbuster clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, Rathour expressed confidence in the team’s batting group to find ways of getting runs.

“We have enough good batters who can manage to bat well on any kind of surface — that has been our strength for many, many years,” he said.

-’Pant to bat at No.3’-

India will continue with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant at No. 3 in the T20 World Cup following his gritty performance during the opener. Rathour also expressed his delight at having a fully-fit Hardik Pandya back in the fold.

“Yes, at the moment Pant is our No. 3 and it helps that he is a left-hander. He has been batting really well. The two games (warm-up and Ireland) he has played, he has looked really, really good,” Rathour said.

Both Pant and Pandya made their way back into the India squad for the T20 World Cup after proving their fitness and form in the IPL.

Even though he did not garner big numbers as an all-rounder in a turbulent season as captain for Mumbai Indians, India chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said that there is no one in the country who could match Pandya’s skills as an all-rounder.

On Wednesday, Pandya was quick and precise with his line and length to produce 4-0-27-3 in his first match since October 2023 - also in a World Cup.

“Hardik looked really good. Hardik has been, I mean, even in the practice game and even in the practice — bowling really well. He looks fit enough to go through four overs and he’s been bowling with some pace and some accuracy, so yeah, it’s great,” Rathour said.

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