Batting coach Vikram Rathour is quite pleased with the shift in India’s batting approach in the shortest format of the game.

The extra bit of aggression while batting has certainly helped the team, as India have been able to put up totals in excess of 170 on most occasions. There have been losses along the way, but they have mostly been due to their faulty bowling.

At a news conference on the eve of the opening T20I versus South Africa in Thiruvananthapuram, Rathour said: “There’s a very visible shift in the way we are batting.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma on Tuesday. PTI picture

“ The approach has changed as we’re trying to be more aggressive. We’re having better strike rates and playing with more intent, which is pretty evident. As a batting unit, we have done well.”

Rathour also refused to buy the idea that India could have posted a bigger total in both their Asia Cup losses to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which led to their early exit from the competition. “Definitely, it (the total) depends on the surface that we are playing on. But when you say we haven’t been able to put up good totals, I don’t agree with that,” the batting coach commented.

“I think batting first was one of the concerns during the last T20 World Cup (in UAE), but since then, we’ve been putting up par or par-plus scores every time whenever we batted first. So I don’t think that’s an issue.”

Keeping in mind the conditions in Australia for the T20 World Cup beginning next month, Team India are looking to give maximum game time to the regulars in the side. “Adapting to Australian conditions will be the biggest challenge that we have.

“We want to give as many opportunities as possible to those playing in the World Cup. But how that’s going to happen depends on the game situation,” Rathour said.

New ball challenge

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma acknowledged the need for a better effort against the new ball, which had been a problem for his team during their last visit to India in June.

“Facing the new-ball bowlers here is quite challenging as they swing the ball and move it in quite a bit more than what we are accustomed to in South Africa. The last time we came here, we were tested and challenged.

“This is our last series before the World Cup, so we’ll be looking to fill up the gaps, whatever they are,” Bavuma emphasised.