T20 World Cup 2021: "Doesn't change anything" - Vikram Rathour on India's recent losses to New Zealand in knockout matches
India have lost to New Zealand in some big games in the last few years. But their batting coach Vikram Rathour is not too concerned about the record. He said it will only matter who plays better cricket on the day ahead of their clash on Sunday at the 2021 T20 World Cup.
Speaking in a video released by the International Cricket Committee (ICC), Rathour said:
"Nothing changes with past records. As I said earlier, we are one of the better teams in the world, and I am saying that because we have done well for the last couple of years in T20 cricket. The numbers are good with us. I know they have won a few games against us in knockouts, but that doesn’t change anything. On a day when we play to the best of our potential, we have the ability to beat any team in the world."
New Zealand beat India in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. They also won against India in the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship earlier this year.
Rathour said that every match is important for India right now and they will treat the match as "any other game".
"I think when you come into a tournament like the World Cup, every game is important. Every game you play, every team you play, it’s extremely important that you play well against them. So since we lost the first game, this game has maybe a little more importance. But I think we will take it as any other game.
'We’ve prepared well, we’ve been practicing well and the boys are in good mental frame of mind so we’re feeling very positive," Rathour said.
Vikram Rathour not worried about India batting unit after defeat to Pakistan
Pakistan beat India in their opening match at the T20 World Cup. Shaheen Shah Afridi removed openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in his first two overs. Suryakumar Yadav also fell to Hasan Ali in the powerplay, leaving India three down early in the match.
This match-up has the makings of a #T20WorldCup classic 🎞
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However, Vikram Rathour remained unconcerned and said they just need to stick to their processes.
"That day, I think Shaheen bowled a really really good first spell. We lost two-three early wickets. So as a batting group, we made a really good recovery to score 150-plus. So nothing specific, we need to back our processes and hopefully we’ll get the result," Rathour said.
Rathour said on what India need to do with the bat:
"You need to bat well for 20 overs. I don’t think any bowler, or only pace we are worried about. We have to bat well to our potential for 20 overs. As far as I’m concerned, we have two of the best openers in the world with us and they have been in good form."
India and New Zealand will face off in Dubai for the Super 12 Group 2 clash.