We should know India's T20 World Cup team by end of England series: Batting coach Vikram Rathour
Team India batting coach, Vikram Rathour has said the Indian team is looking to finalize the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup by the time the 5-match T20I series against England concludes. He also confirmed that the World Cup team will pose a similar look to the current side, barring any major injury or form concerns.
In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Vikram Rahour called the squad a 'settled unit' and said he hopes to iron out the batting in this series.
"The T20 World Cup is in India, so I just want the batting unit to get settled basically. By the time we finish this series, we should know, 'this is the team which is going to play the World Cup'. So hopefully that will happen in this series. I am already sure that there wouldn't be too many changes anyway, because we are a pretty settled unit at the moment. But in case somebody loses form or somebody gets injured, as a batting unit you just want to get settled now," said Vikram Rathour.
India's 19-man squad carries a mix of youth and experience. While senior players like Shikhar Dhawan would love to prove themselves once and for all, youngsters including Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan would be raring to make a lasting first impression.
Not really concerned about the strike rates of Indian batsmen: Vikram Rathour
Vikram Rathour also shrugged off concerns regarding the strike rates of Indian batsmen as compared to their English counterparts. Rathour remarked that as long as the team consistently puts up good scores and wins games, strike rates won't matter to him.
"You are looking to win a game. If you are chasing, strike rate doesn't mean anything actually. You are looking to finish a game and chase a target - whether you do it in 10 overs or 20 overs, you are looking to win the game. Batting first, at times, yeah. If the conditions are good you need to be looking to put a par score on board. As far as our T20 (batting) is concerned we have been doing that pretty consistently. So I'm not really, really concerned; I mean as far as we are winning games and we are putting par scores and chasing targets, I'm okay with whatever strike rates they are going at," said Vikram Rathour.
All five T20Is will be played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, starting Friday (March 12). India will host the T20 World Cup in October-November, 2021.