T20 World Cup: India batting coach Vikram Rathour gives insights on ‘challenging’ New York pitches

The pitches at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York have become the centre of attraction due to uneven bounce which can be dangerous to players’ safety. India batting coach Vikram Rathour, however, feels that Men in Blue have enough experience and skills in the team to deal with the “challenging pitches”.

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Team India’s three Group A matches are scheduled in New York including the match against Pakistan on 9 June. On Wednesday, they started the campaign
against Ireland in New York
. India won the low-scorer by eight wickets but captain Rohit Sharma was forced to retire after being
hit on a right biceps by a Josh Little delivery
.

Rishabh Pant was also hit on his left elbow while batting.

“(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.

Read:
India unhappy with New York pitch but decide against making official complaint

Rathour added that winning the toss becomes important in such conditions but 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.

“As many as we can get. I’m not going to put any number to that. We need to bat well and maximise whatever we can get. Whatever you can get,” Rathour added.

In the first official match at the New York stadium, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 77 before India shot out Ireland on 96.

Rathour feels there’s a need to be brave on the pitch and adapt to the surface.

“We can adapt really well to different conditions and on this surface you really need to adapt well and take it head-on and not worry about it too much,” he said.