IND vs AUS, 3rd Test: 'Don't think anyone played poor or rash cricket' - Vikram Rathour on Indian collpase

IND vs AUS 2022-23: India had a poor day out with the bat on Day 1 of the third Indore Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While batting coach Vikram Rathour asserted that the pitch was tricky, he did not feel that his batters batted poorly.

The Indian team didn't factor in excessive turn on the offer as it was a bad day in the office despite playing spin being one of its strengths, batting coach Vikram Rathour claimed on Wednesday. India was all-out for 109 on the opening day of the third Test, in a little over one session, with Australia left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann picking 5/16 in his only second Test.

On the same pitch, visitors reached 156 for four at stumps and went into day two with a valuable 47-run lead. The ball turning square in the first hour of play attracted a lot of attention, with many criticising the nature of the surface. However, Rathour maintained that playing on turners at home remains the team's strength.

"It is a challenging wicket for sure. It took more turns than we expected. Maybe because of the moisture, the ball turned sharply in the morning. We could have made more runs, but I don't think anyone played poor or rash cricket. We just had an off day as a batting unit," Rathour said in a media interaction.

When asked about the risk of playing on turners, Rathour said they could sometimes be at the receiving end but remain the team's strength. "You can get out as a batting unit sometimes, but we prefer to play on turning tracks. That is our strength. That is where we are perfect as a unit. It is a one-off wicket," he felt.

"The earlier two wickets were not terrible. It is maybe drier than we expected, and we saw that. It did much more on the first day of the Test match than we expected. To be fair to curators, they hardly got time to prepare the wicket. They had a Ranji season here, and it is pretty late that it was decided the game will be shifted from Dharamsala. They did not get enough time," said the former India opener.

Rathour felt that the wicket might have eased as the day progressed. Usman Khawaja was the stand-out batter for Australia, with a gritty 60 off 147 balls. "It felt like that [that wicket eased out]. I won't be able to comment on that. The guys playing the middle can tell you that better. It felt like it had gone slower later in the day. It wasn't turning as sharply as it was in the morning," he imagined.

Asked if the batters deviated from their plans, Rathour replied negatively. "Not really. The plan was to trust your defence, wait for the loose balls, and score as many runs as possible. It was one of those days when everything you did went into the hands [of fielders]. We just had an off day," he said.

Australia was guilty of playing uber-aggressive cricket in the Delhi Test. On Wednesday, Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja fell while going for their strokes. Cheteshwar Pujara tried to score off a ripper that turned back sharply from wide of off-stump.

"That was misjudgement in length. He [Pujara] saw a ball outside off stump and expected it to come straighter, but it turned. It was a misjudgement which can happen. On Rohit, this is how he bats, he likes to take the game on and score runs. Most days, it comes off, today it didn't," said the batting coach.

'Since WTC has started, there is extra pressure to win home games'
Rathour said that since the WTC began in 2019, teams feel additional pressure to win at home because of the points system that decides qualification for the summit clash. "It is ICC's call [if they want neutral curators]. But since the WTC has started, there is more pressure to win more home games. Teams want to win games when they are playing at home," he deemed.

India batters have often been found wanting on turners, but Rathour disagreed. "I don't believe so. These are challenging wickets. We, as a team, want to play on turning tracks. It would be best if you batted well to score runs. The batters have done well [in the series]. Virat was excellent in the last game. Today also, he was looking good. Rohit has played a good innings, as well as Jadeja and Axar," he commented.

Australia taking the first innings is not that big an issue
Australia has taken a healthy 47-run lead, but considering they bat last on this pitch, Rathour is not too worried. "Taking a lead is not as big an issue because they will need to bat number four on this surface. Now the challenge is to keep them as low as possible. We will have to bat well in the second innings," Rathour concluded.

(With inputs from PTI)