'Expected them to play big knocks… Ordinary batting': India batting coach Vikram Rathour after Day 4

India batting coach Vikram Rathour minced no words in describing India's 'ordinary' batting performance in the second innings on Day 4 of the fifth Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham. India started the fourth day at 125 for 3, expecting to bat England out of the Test match but instead, were bowled out for 245 as batters got set and threw their wickets away in trying to be ultra-aggressive. Rathour said they were expecting one of the set batters to convert their starts and get a big score but that didn't happen.

"The plans didn't work out," Rathour told reporters in the press conference at the close of play on Monday. "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 really couldn't 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."

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Cheteshwar Pujara batted beautifully for 66 but was out caught at point when he tried to hit Stuart Broad in the air. Rishabh Pant, India's best batter in this Test, was dismissed for 57 when he tried to reverse sweep Jack Leach. Shreyas Iyer, despite the short-ball tactic being telegraphed, provided a simple catch to the short mid-wicket fielder.

"Yes, they used a short-ball plan against us in the field," Rathour said. "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."

"People have their own ways of dealing with that. As a batsman, you have your own way to deal with that. We don't really say you have to do this or do that. As a batter you need to decide, according to your game, what suits you in that situation and in those conditions. Unfortunately, today we couldn't really execute whatever plans we had.

"Today was the day we were ahead. We should have actually batted better and put them out of the game with our batting. But unfortunately, we didn't do that," Rathour added.

He also said that weather could not be an excuse for sub-par bowling performance in the final innings so far, in which Root-Bairstow put the hosts in a dominant position.

"We needed to bowl better, bowl in better areas," he added.

Rathour, however, expressed optimism that pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami could still bring back India into contention on the final day of the ongoing fifth and final Test against England.