India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour believes that Rishabh Pant will be handy batting in the lower order and that India will not tinker too much with the team selection for the upcoming T20Is against West Indies.
Rathour was roped in after the exit of Sanjay Bangar in late 2019, and he got an extension till the ODI World Cup in India 2023 despite the departure of old coaching staff under Ravi Shastri.
Asked whether the team management sees Rishabh Pant as an opener in white ball format in future, Rathour said the dashing wicketkeeper-batter could be better utilised in the lower middle-order.
"It's too far ahead. I don't know whether I will be part of the side after 2023... As for Rishabh, he is a fantastic player, he can always bat up the order.
"It will depend on the team's scenario at that point of time and what the team wants from him. I've no doubt that he will be an important member of the side beyond 2023.
"But we can utilise him in a better way lower down the order which can be really challenging as we don't have much options of a left hander in the middle-order. We will see at that point of time where he can be more useful."
Pant opened the batting in the second ODI against West Indies and then batted at number five after Shikhar Dhawan was back in the mix.
Asked if the team management would want to try Pant as an opener in the upcoming T20Is, he said: "We have not yet decided, we still have a couple of days to go (for the match).
"I understand KL (Rahul) is out but we still have Ishan (Kishan) and Ruturaj (Gaikwad) in the mix. We will see once we have a look at the surface here on Monday," he added.
In the aftermath of the Test and ODI series defeat In South Africa, Rathour faced criticism for the decline in India's batting department especially in the middle-order.
"I think we are doing well with our middle-order in ODI and T20Is. It never has been a concern. The wicket was little challenging and tricky in Ahmedabad," Rathour said.
"It was good to see people stepping up after we lost early wickets and put up decent scores with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, and Rishabh Pant doing well in the middle-order," he added.
India have uncapped players like pacer Avesh Khan, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi in the squad and Rathour said the focus is more on winning the series than giving chance to the youngsters.
"I believe in experimenting but we have a series win. I'm sure West Indies will be a very competitive side in this format. We want to give opportunities to young guys but the important thing is to start well and win the series," he concluded.
