Rohit Sharma Retires Hurt, Rishabh Pant Injured: Vikram Rathour on Nassau Pitch Challenges

June 6, 2024 0 944

Vikram Rathour expressed concerns over the safety of the drop-in pitch at Nassau County Cricket Stadium after Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant sustained injuries due to uneven bounce during their opening match.

India has raised concerns over the drop-in pitch at Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York after captain Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant were injured due to its uneven bounce during their opening T20 World Cup match against Ireland. Rohit retired hurt after scoring a half-century when a ball from Josh Little bounced awkwardly and struck his arm. Later, Pant was hit on the elbow by a delivery that did not bounce as expected, requiring attention from the physio.

India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour acknowledged the challenges posed by the pitch but emphasized the need for the team to adapt. Rathour explained that they had anticipated the difficult conditions after playing a practice game on the same surface and stressed the importance of focusing on what they can control. Despite these issues, India secured an eight-wicket victory to begin their campaign on a positive note.

“(We are) trying to control the controllable. It was a challenging wicket and we were expecting a challenging wicket because we played a practice game here so we knew what to expect. We need to find a way to deal with it and we have enough skills in the team and enough experience in the team to deal with it. We should be fine,” Rathour said.

“The toss is crucial in conditions like these but fortunately, we won the toss so it was a great start, but you again can’t control that. Even if we lose the toss and we have to bat first, we still need to find ways to deal with the situation and the pitch. As many (runs) as we can get. I’m not going to put any number to that. We need to bat well and maximise whatever we can get. Whatever you can get,” he added.

Rathour is also confident in the team’s ability to handle various conditions, citing their strength in batting over the years.

“We have enough good batters who can manage to bat well on any kind of surface — that has been our strength for many, many years. We can adapt really well to different conditions and on this surface you really need to adapt well and take it head-on and not worry about it too much,” he said.

The drop-in pitch, prepared in Adelaide and flown to the USA, has received criticism after producing low-scoring matches. The coach then acknowledged the difficulties in preparing such a pitch and stressed the need for players to confront the conditions head-on without overthinking.