Who is Vikram Rathour, Team India's probable batting coach?

Around 12 candidates have been shortlisted for the post of batting coach of Team India. There are many big names among them who are from India and also from other countries. From international cricketing stalwarts like former English batsmen Jonathan Trott, Mark Ramprakash, Sri Lankan Thilan Samaraweera to Indian first-class legends like Amol Majumdar, Hrishikesh Kanitkar and experienced coaching campaigners like Pravin Amre and Lalchand Rajput along with the incumbent batting coach Sanjay Bangar, the list has a wide range of heavyweights. But the person who is probably getting the job is Jalandhar-born 50-year-old former cricketer named Vikram Rathour, as reported by the Times of India.

Who is Vikram Rathour?

Vikram Rathour is a 50-year-old former Indian cricketer who has represented the country in Tests and ODIs during 1996-97. In his brief stint donning national colours, he was not at all successful as the former cricketer was able to score only 193 runs from the seven ODIs he played with two half-centuries to his name whereas he has 131 runs to his name from the six Test matches he has played.

But the right-handed batsman has a brilliant record in first-class cricket. He has scored 11,473 runs at an average of 49.66 in 146 matches, on the other hand, has an average record in List A cricket with 3,000 runs in 99 matches to his name. The Jalandhar-born cricket was an important member of the Punjab team which won the Ranji Trophy in 1992-92 under the coaching of Bishan Singh Bedi.

The former cricketer was appointed as a national selector in 2012 from the North Zone till 2016. During his tenure, Punjab's Barinder Sran and Himachal Pradesh's Rishi Dhawan came into the picture of the national team. The 50-year-old former cricketer is a favourite of Rahul Dravid who wanted him to be appointed as the batting coach of India U-19. But as he is a relative of U-19 national selector Ashish Kapoor, he could not get the jobs of U-19 and NCA.

What are his chances of becoming the batting coach

As reported by the Times of India, the Indian team will probably have an Indian coach for the ease of communication. Rathour is the front-runner for the post due to the appreciation he has earned as a selector and coach in the past.

The former cricketer is also related to former BCCI president Anurag Thakur but it should not matter in his selection as batting coach, a source told TOI.

"The COA, however, has never specified what the conflict is. That he is related to former BCCI president Anurag Thakur? How is it even a conflict? Just because you're related to someone, your qualifications or experience shouldn't matter?" a source told TOI.

On the other hand, Ravi Shastri and Bharat Arun are probably going to be re-appointed as the head coach and bowling coach of Team India respectively.