250 is good first innings score in these conditions: Batting coach Vikram Rathour

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 final here.

India ended the curtailed second day on 146 for 3 with Virat Kohli batting on 44 off 124 balls in the company of Ajinkya Rahane 29 not out off 79 balls.

”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 lauded openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma for seeing off the new ball in an admirable manner as they played positively to add 62 runs.

Asked if taking a stance outside the crease was to counter swing or play more attacking shots, Rathour said, ”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 be got to the openers.” 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 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 the 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 oddballs. He just needs to convert those starts. It’s going to happen very soon,” he signed off.