'It was a bit of distraction, but boys handled well' - Vikram Rathour on Ravi Shastri testing positive for COVID-19

Despite playing some really good cricket on the field on day four of the fourth Test against England at the Oval, the Indian team had a couple of things they were concerned about. Ahead of the start of day four, the news of head coach Ravi Shastri testing positive with COVID-19 had presented a bit of a worry for all the players and support staff of the Indian team.

Shastri was isolated along with those who had come in close contact with him. Bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar were the two members isolated from the team. This was a bit of a mind wrecking thing, considering how important the support staff is to the team. But, on the field, India displayed some great character, coming on top against England. 

At the end of the day’s play, batting coach Vikram Rathour praised the Indian team players for not get distracted because of the happenings around. “Of course, we are missing them massively. Ravi Bhai (Ravi Shastri), B Arun and R Sridhar, they have been an extremely important part of this set-up and they have done extremely well (in) the last five-six years and played a major role in the team doing well,” Rathour said after the end of day’s play.

A lot of credit goes to the boys, the way they handled themselves: Vikram Rathour

Rathour went on to say that the team accepted the reality of the matter soon. “But this is what it is. That’s the fact that they are not here. So it was in the morning, I think, a bit of a distraction. We had a word, we spoke (and) decided that we need to focus on what is in hand, which is cricket,” said Rathour.

On day four, India resumed on 270 for 3 with 171 runs lead. In the very first session, England pegged them back as they lost three quick wickets. But, after this, there was a rebuilding which happened courtesy of Shardul Thakur (60 runs) and Rishabh Pant (50 runs). There were handy cameos from Umesh Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah of 25 and 24 runs respectively. All this helped India get to 466 runs in their second innings. This set a target of 368 runs for England. 

“It was an extremely important day for us, to focus on cricket. So I think the boys did extremely well to not get distracted. There was a potential that we can (be) distracted from the situation that happened last night, but a lot of credit goes to the boys, the way they handled themselves and the way we played as a team,” added Rathour.

England played out 32 overs on day four, scoring 77 without losing any wicket. They still require 291 runs to win this Test while India needs 10 wickets. There will be 90 overs of play on day five, and it seems all three results are possible.