3 players who became India's batting coach ft. Sanjay Bangar
It is a big task for any individual to handle the responsibility of India's batting coach. This is because the country is known for producing world-class batters across all formats.
Before 2014, there wasn't any concept of a batting coach of the national team. Head coaches, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher did not have any batting coach during India's title victories in 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy, respectively.
However, things changed in 2014, and since then, there have been three batting consultant/coaches for the Indian team. Let's take a look at their tenures and their achievements.
1) Rahul Dravid
'The Wall of Indian Cricket' played his final game for India in January 2012 against Australia. As he was serving as the mentor of Rajasthan Royals during IPL 2014, Rahul Dravid was appointed the batting consultant for the Indian team for the England Tour in August-September.
Dravid assisted head coach Duncan Fletcher in the five-match Test series and ODI series. Unfortunately, India lost the Test series 3-1; however, they prevailed 3-1 in the 50-over format.
2) Sanjay Bangar
After the 2014 England Tour, Sanjay Bangar was appointed as the batting coach of the national team. This came after he served as the head coach of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), as they emerged as runner-up in the 2014 season.
Bangar donned this role under three different head coaches, Fletcher, Anil Kumble and Ravi Shastri until 2019. During his five-year tenure, the Indian team prevailed in 30 out of 52 Tests and 82 out of 120 ODIs. Bangar's efforts helped India reign at the top of the Test rankings for more than three years.
Interestingly, as per a report by Rediff, the Indian batting unit scored the most runs and held the best averages across all formats under Bangar's tenure. The same period saw Virat Kohli becoming the chase master and Rohit Sharma scoring double centuries as well.
In the latter end of Bangar's tenure, India created history by securing their first away win in Australia. They breached the Gabba fortress to win the series 2-1 in January 2019. His tenure was ended after India's 2-0 Test series win against West Indies in September.
3) Vikram Rathour
Vikram Rathour, who played six Tests and seven ODIs for India in the 1990s, replaced Sanjay Bangar as the new batting coach of the national team. His first assignment was the home series against South Africa, where the Men in Blue tied the T20I series 1-1 and secured a 3-0 whitewash in the longest format.
After his tenure ended in 2021, Rathour re-applied for the position and since then, has been serving this role.
The Indian team have been sensational with their consistent performances, especially in the ICC events during Rathour's tenure. They reached the World Test Championship (WTC) final on both occasions, and reached the final of both the 2024 T20 World Cup and 2023 ODI World Cup.
Most importantly, they secured a title victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup, thus ending the team's 13-year ICC title drought.