No team can have eleven Pujaras and eleven Pants: Vikram Rathour

Ever since Vikram Rathour has taken over the role of Indian team’s batting coach, the team has seen some positive cricket and batsmanship coming from all the players. During his tenure, Rohit Sharma has donned the opener’s hat, Shubman Gill launched himself at the world stage, Rishabh Pant rediscovered his career and Chesteshwar Pujara showed his gritty best. 

In a recent interaction, Rathour talked about his approach in managing batsmen and how to get the best out of them. The former Punjab batsman took over the role in September 2019, after Sanjay Bangar, who had held the role since 2014, was not given a contract renewal. Rathour revealed that he has added a culture of group discussions between batsmen and one-on-one discussions. 

The batting coach believes that each individual in the team has a different mindset, but it’s important to understand that and deal with everyone’s problem in their own way. “Whether it’s Pujara or Pant, each of them has a different mindset, different work ethics, and listening to them is the only way for me to understand them and their thoughts,” Rathour said in an interview with the Times of India. 

It takes a Pant and a Pujara together to make a winning combination: Vikram Rathour

Rathour further took the example of Pujara and Pant to explain how the two players are completely different in their approach towards both cricket life. The fact that someone’s personality gets rubbed on how they play their cricket can simply be seen when comparing Pujara and Pant. Two very different cricketers, two different approaches but one goal, to score runs. 

“Now, no team can have eleven Pujaras and eleven Pants, right? It always takes a Pant and a Pujara together to make a winning combination. So, what’s the cue from a coach’s perspective – it is imperative to allow them to be who they are, on and off the field, and to expect a Pant to be like a Pujara and vice versa,” Rathour said. 

He also noted that the challenge for him as a coach is to add one or two elements to someone’s batting. For example, adding a shot or two in Pujara’s armory or making Pant spend some time on the crease before he starts going for his shots.