India have failed to defend targets due to dew factor, Vikram Rathour backs Indian bowlers
Vikram Rathour is of the opinion that India have failed to defend targets due to dew factor in recent times
|BCCI
Vikram Rathour has come out in support of the Indian bowling unit saying that they haven’t been able to defend targets as it gets tough to bowl under the influence of the dew factor. He further added that they are working on getting better at defending targets and will improve before the World Cup.
After registering a series win over Australia in T20Is, India are all set to host South Africa for a white-ball series. However, the team would like to focus on getting rid of their vulnerabilities before the start of the T20 World Cup next month. Death bowling has been a reason for concern as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel have failed to restrict batters at the back end.Â
The team has lost three out of their last six matches which all came while defending targets. They suffered defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup and lost one match against Australia while bowling second. Despite Indian bowlers facing the heat, batting coach Vikram Rathour has backed them to perform better in upcoming fixtures.Â
"We are working on that area of getting better at defending targets. But to be fair to our bowlers, the toss plays a vital role and every time we have not been able to defend are the places where there has been dew, so it gets easier to chase," Rathour stated in a press conference, reported IndiaToday.
"I won't be harsh on bowlers as they have been able to push the match till the last over, every time, when we are looking to defend. It's one ball here and there but, of course, we are doing pretty well, but hopefully, we will get better.”
India’s batting has clicked well in recent times with batters stepping up in crunch situations. Suryakumar Yadav has been consistent while Virat Kohli has regained his form in the last T20I against Australia. Rohit Sharma also played an impressive knock against Australia in the second T20I and so the batting unit looks pretty strong at the moment. Rathour said that batting first was a worrying factor earlier but the aggressive intent adopted by the team is working fine for them.Â
"I won't be harsh on bowlers as they have been able to push the match till the last over, every time, when we are looking to defend. It's one ball here and there but, of course, we are doing pretty well, but hopefully, we will get better. I think batting first was one of the concerns during the last T20 World Cup, but since then, we have been putting up par or par plus scores every time that we have batted first. So I don't think that's an issue," he explained.Â
