India's batting coach opens up on Rishabh Pant's inclusion in the playing XI against South Africa

Rishabh Pant and Vikram Rathour: (Image Source: Twitter)

India’s vice-captain KL Rahul hasn’t lived up to the expectations in the ongoing 20-20 World Cup so far. In the two matches that he opened the innings for India, Rahul has registered scores of 1 and 9 against Pakistan and Netherlands respectively.

Amidst that, there have been speculations that Rishabh Pant could replace KL Rahul in the playing XI and open the innings with Rohit Sharma ahead of the next match against South Africa.

However, India’s batting coach, Vikram Rathore has put all such speculations to rest in the pre-match press conference on Sunday. Rathore expressed confidence in KL Rahul and has assured that he will open the innings for the team in the coming matches.

"No. We aren't really not thinking about that,". He's been batting really well and also batted well in practice games. So we aren't changing anything," Rathour said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.

The batting coach also hailed Rishabh Pant’s ability to make an impact in the shortest format and hinted that he could make into the playing XI in the upcoming matches in the tournament.

"Only 11 can play unfortunately and I know and understand Rishabh is a fantastic player and we know he can be destructive against any opposition," said Rathour.

"The message to him is be ready and your chance might come anytime. He should be mentally and physically ready. He is doing that and you might have seen him practising regularly. I am sure he will be ready whenever opportunity comes,"

In the two matches that they have played so far, India haven’t batted as aggressively as they had, recently, at home. Shedding light on the same, Vikram Rathore highlighted the fact that the conditions in Australia don’t really demand the teams to score 200-plus total to win the game.

"Playing with intent is the goal. Looking to score runs but we are looking to adapt as well as per conditions. I don't think these are 200 plus wickets so we will need to adapt," Rathour said.