With the T20 World Cup 2020 inching closer the debate on young keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant’s place in the side seems to be flaring up even faster fuelled by a string of his failures. Amidst all the criticism cricket pundits around the world along with the team, management has been urging to give the Delhi lad some time to settle and Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour is no exception.

Echoing head coach Ravi Shastri and skipper Virat Kohli’s views, Rathour opined the youngster adds an X factor to the team and urged everyone to wait until Pant gets some runs under his belt. The batting coach shared with some runs under his belt, Pant will turn out to be a massive player.

"The reason why we keep discussing him is because he has got immense ability and everybody believes that he can be an X-factor in any team and in the Indian team as well," Rathour was quoted by TOI.

"He has been backed by the selectors and the team management because all of us believe that he is a good player...once he starts getting runs, I am sure, he will be a massive player.”

With gala event Down Under only months away and India team needs to face their biggest challenge, which is defending totals in the shortest format. India recently failed to defend 171 against West Indies in their own backyard. Rathour believes that putting up big totals batting first, as they did in the last T20 against the Windies, is key to give some breathing space to their bowling.

"I think we are the number one team in the world when we are chasing targets. (When you are) batting first, you need a different kind of fearlessness. When we are chasing targets, we know the target and plan our game plans better. The way we batted in the last game, I think that was one big tick in the box and we are looking forward to maintaining that," he concluded.