Vikram Rathour Profile: Former India Batting Coach Career Story

Vikram Rathour is one of Indian cricket's quiet senior figures: a Punjab stalwart of the 1990s, a brief India Test cap, a long-serving national selector, and ultimately the country's batting coach through a period that included the Rahul Dravid era. His tenure ended in 2024 with the broader coaching staff change under Gautam Gambhir. Here is his complete profile, the coaching philosophy and what his legacy looks like.

The playing career

Vikram Rathour was born in Jalandhar in 1969 and came through the Punjab cricket pipeline at a time when the state was producing Test-quality openers year after year. A right-handed opening batter, he made his first-class debut for Punjab in the late 1980s and became one of the most prolific domestic openers of the decade with more than 5,000 first-class runs at a solid average.

He played six Tests and seven ODIs for India in 1996-97, including the tour of England, where he showed flashes of high-class technique without quite cementing a place. His international career was brief, but his domestic longevity was exceptional with Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

Move into administration and coaching

After retirement Rathour stayed involved in Indian cricket as a coach and administrator. He served as a national selector from 2012, chairing the senior selection committee at various points, and was involved in many major squad decisions across that cycle. His selector experience is a big reason he was considered a natural fit for the India coaching setup, because he already understood how the BCCI talent pipeline worked end to end.

He moved into the coaching side when he was appointed India's batting coach in 2019, joining Ravi Shastri's staff alongside bowling coach Bharat Arun and fielding coach R Sridhar.

India batting coach tenure

Rathour served as India batting coach under Ravi Shastri from 2019 to 2021, and then under Rahul Dravid from late 2021 until he stepped down in 2024. That five-year stretch overlapped with India's run to the World Test Championship finals, the 2021 Test series win in Australia and England, the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph and the middle-order transitions across formats.

His responsibilities included one-on-one batting sessions, pre-series batting plans, and working closely with the younger batters in the squad. He worked particularly hard with the opening pair transitions across the Test side and the middle-order rebuild in white-ball cricket.

Coaching philosophy

Rathour is old-school technical: he believes in a solid stance, a clean backlift, and the ability to play late. Teammates from his playing days and cricketers he has coached describe his method as patient, detail-heavy and not showy. He does not tend to push large technical overhauls on senior players. Instead he works on small, quiet refinements and routine-building.

He was also known for being a calm dressing-room presence, which mattered in a period where Indian cricket shifted head coach twice and faced high-pressure ICC events in every calendar year.

Legacy and next chapter

With the Gambhir-Nayar-Ten Doeschate coaching staff now in place, Rathour moved on from his India role in 2024. He is expected to continue contributing to Indian cricket in some capacity, whether in age-group coaching, franchise cricket or administration, given his long experience across all three.

FAQ

Q: Is Vikram Rathour still India's batting coach? A: No. Rathour served as India batting coach under Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid until 2024, when the coaching staff changed with Gautam Gambhir's appointment as head coach.

Q: How many Tests did Vikram Rathour play? A: He played six Tests and seven ODIs for India in 1996-97.

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