With Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja bowing out of T20Is, Team India has entered a major transition period in the shortest format. An example of this was recently seen in Zimbabwe when Shubman Gill’s team defeated the hosts 4-1 in a competitive white-ball series with five youngsters making their T20I debuts.
Though the experienced trio will keep on grinding in the other two formats, their presence isn’t expected for too long. Once they take the backseat permanently, the next-gen cricketers will take control of the wheel.
One of the rising talents is Rinku Singh who has cemented his place in the T20Is but Vikram Rathour, the outgoing batting coach of Team India, believes that the left-hand batter has capabilities to make it into the Test team as well.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Rathour said Rinku will definitely flourish in the red-ball format if given an opportunity.
“When I see him (Rinku) bat in nets, I can’t find any technical reasons why Rinku cannot be a successful Test batter. I understand he has made his name as a terrific finisher in T20 cricket but if you look at his first-class record, he is averaging in high 50s,” Rathour was quoted as saying.
“He (Rinku) is also blessed with a very calm temperament. So all these factors indicate that if given an opportunity, he can develop into a Test cricketer,” he added.
‘Always told Virat to believe in his methods’
Rathour has often been questioned about Virat Kohli’s extended lean patch after the 2019 World Cup and he maintained it was a ‘phase that everyone has to go through’.
“There were no technical issues that we worked on specifically during this phase. The constant message to him was to keep working hard and believe in his methods. Eventually, he came back stronger and an even better player,” he said
