WTC final: Vikram Rathour believes 250 a good score at Southampton

Batting coach Vikram Rathour on Saturday said that a first innings score of 250-plus will put India in a fighting position against New Zealand, keeping the prevailing conditions in mind during the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final here.

India ended the curtailed second day of the WTC final on 146-3. Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (29*) will resume batting for India on Day 3.

“We would like to score as many runs as possible but 250 plus will be a reasonable score in these conditions,” Rathour said at the day end press conference.

The batting coach praised openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma for seeing off the new ball well. “Batting is about scoring runs. Rohit and Gill showed a lot of intent and looked to score wherever they can.

“Hats off to Virat and Rahane for the manner in which they batted but a lot of credit should also got to the openers.”

Rathour brushes off Pujara form concern

The former India opener feels that once the Dukes ball got a tad older, it started swinging much more and hence scoring runs became a bit difficult than what it was when the openers were batting.

“I think when the ball got a bit older, it started swinging more. Also the New Zealand pacers hit good areas during the second session.”

Rathour also brushed aside assertions that Cheteshwar Pujara is facing some technical problems as he has now been hit at least four times on the helmet in recent Test matches.

“We are not really concerned and he is a good player. I don’t think pace is an issue with him. Till he batted, he looked solid and he has a role to play in the team.

“Today also, he played 50 odd balls. He just needs to convert those starts. It’s going to happen very soon,” he signed off.

‘Nice to keep WTC final in balance’

New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson said his team is pleased to keep things in the balance at the end of Day 2.

“It was a good day for Test cricket, the disruption probably didn’t help the momentum that we had at that point of time,” he said during a virtual press conference.

“They played really well, they put away bad balls, and they were patient outside off, our plan was to stick around, keep things restricted and we got three important wickets as well.

“It was crucial to try to get balls in reasonable areas for long periods, how we did that throughout the day after they started off well was pretty pleasing, to keep things in the balance.”

Jamieson said India is “a quality line up from 1 to 11”.

“There is a reason why they are one of the top teams in the world for a long period of time. For us, it was about putting the ball in the right areas and I think we were able to do that for the most part and take that confidence tomorrow,” he said.

What is a good total for WTC final?

Jamieson, however, said he wasn’t sure what a good total on this track. “We certainly haven’t spoken around a number, I think there is an opportunity to score runs as a batting unit and there is still some help with the ball moving around and seaming.

“The Indian batsmen have shown if you are patient, there are still runs to be had. So whether 250 is a good score, only time will tell.”

Jamieson said his team was “able to keep the ball in challenging areas for long period.”

“You look at their lineup, you are expecting those guys to do well, they have good records and they have done special things around the world. They have put away slightly bad ball, they were able to score freely,” he said.

“They certainly played well in first hours. We tried to wobble the ball a bit and keep guys engaged. It is part of our arsenal, there were no set plans how we want to operate after that first hour.”