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‘We could have done better’: Batting coach rates India's first-innings total as 'below par', says ‘50-60 runs’ short
India posted 223 all-out in their first innings, a total which team's batting coach Vikram Rathour termed as “below par”.
India Test captain Virat Kohli staged a lone fight on Day 1 of the third and final Test against South Africa in Cape Town. The captain scored a gritty 79 off 201 balls before getting caught-behind off Kagiso Rabada's ball.
Riding on Kohli's knock, India posted 223 all-out in their first innings, a total which team's batting coach Vikram Rathour termed as “below par”.
Speaking after the conclusion of Day 1, Rathour lauded the India captain but at the same time he pointed that India were “50-60 runs" short from what was expected of them.
“These are challenging conditions, not easy conditions to score runs in, but we are below par. We could have scored 50/60 more runs, that’s what we were at least expecting,” said Rathour at the post day media interaction.
The coach felt that there were way too many soft dismissals towards the latter part of the innings, adding that the batters could have done a better job.
"Virat played a phenomenal innings...Pujara was looking really good, but then they bowled a good spell in the morning, the conditions were overcast and they were challenging for batting, but again I thought there were some soft dismissals in the later part of the innings, we could have done better definitely,” added Rathour.
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The former India cricketer said India will look to wrap the South African innings as early as possible and hoped the hosts don't take a big lead on Day 2.
“The lesser the runs, I hope it will be an equal innings and they won’t get a big lead," he said.
