ENG vs IND | Vikram Rathour blame batters for India's poor show on Day 4

India's batting coach Vikram Rathour was unhappy with the batting display of the Indian team on Day 4 of the rescheduled fifth Test.

India started day 4 by leading with 257 runs, and seven wickets were in hand, and half-centurion Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant settled well at the crease. 

But in no time team India suffered a major collapse as they were all out for 245, and the visitors could only accumulate 92 runs at the expense of 7 wickets. The visitors still managed to set a big total of 378 for the hosts to chase in the fourth innings.

Speaking on India's abysmal batting display, India's batting coach Vikram Rathore said the plans didn't work out as Indian batters had an ordinary day with the bat. He admitted that a lot of people got starts, but nobody could convert it into a big score.

"The plans didn't work out. I'll agree that we had a pretty ordinary day as far as batting is concerned. We were ahead in the game. We were in a position where we really could've batted them out of the game. 

Unfortunately, it didn't happen. A lot of people got starts but no one really could convert. We were expecting one of them to play a big knock and have a big partnership, but unfortunately, it didn't happen like that," Vikram Rathour said at the end of the play on Day 4.

Lack of proper execution cost India

The ex-Indian cricketer believes that lack of proper execution from the batters' end was the reason why India lost wickets to England's short-ball plan. Rathour asked his batters to make better strategies in the future for similar situations.

"Yes, they used a short-ball plan against us in the field. We had to show a little better, not intent, but strategy. We could've handled it slightly differently. People tried to play shots but didn't really convert or execute them well enough. 

They got out to that. We will have to rethink how we handle that next time in a similar situation, against similar bowlers who keep similar fields. We will need to have a better strategy against them," added Rathour.

Talking about the team's game plan on the last day, Rathour feels it's a matter of one or two quick wickets for the visitors to stop England from chasing 378 on the last day of the series decider.

"Two wickets in the morning early and again the game will open up," he said. 

"The kind of bowling (Mohammad) Shami and (Jasprit) Bumrah are doing, it's not beyond them that they get one wicket, then one, two, three can fall. And that can bring us back in the game," he concluded.