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Sitanshu Kotak to join Gambhir’s support staff

ByRasesh Mandani 
Jan 16, 2025 10:20 PM IST

Absence of a batting coach in the Indian set up has been a point of debate after losses in Australia  

Mumbai: Sitanshu Kotak will join the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian support staff as batting coach for the upcoming T20I series against England starting Jan 22. Kotak, 52, has been working in a coaching capacity with the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for the past five years and been on various tours with the Indian team; often with the second-string national sides when international schedules overlap.

Sitanshu Kotak will join the Indian support staff as batting coach for the upcoming T20I series against England (HT)
Sitanshu Kotak will join the Indian support staff as batting coach for the upcoming T20I series against England (HT)

The Indian coaching set-up has been under the pump, with a series of poor results under Gambhir’s watch, from the time he took over, last July. The current support-staff has been mostly handpicked by Gambhir with former South African pacer Morne Morkel the bowling coach and Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate serving as assistant coaches. T Dilip is the only one from ex-coach Dravid’s team who kept his job.

The absence of technical expertise, particularly on the batting front, in the coaching staff became a talking point during the recent Australian tour where India lost 1-3. The experienced Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as well as the talented Shubman Gill were off-colour and failed to regain form throughout the tour. Gambhir has a wider role to play and is known to be less of a technical coach.

“How do you plan to improve the Indian cricketers?” batting legend Sunil Gavaskar asked after the Australia series, speaking to the official broadcasters. “Throw-downs will not get you anything. You had to improve their technique and temperament, which you haven’t done. So, make sure to ask questions from the batters who have not made runs, but also ask the coaching staff what have they done?”

There is still no information if Kotak’s is a long-term appointment and whether he will travel with the team to the crucial England tour for the five-match Test series in June.

Kotak, a domestic stalwart scored 8061 first-class runs for Saurashtra in 130 appearances and soon after retiring as a player in 2013, joined his state side as coach. As coach, Kotak was instrumental in giving a steely look to the Saurashtra side which began to believe that they could beat the bigger state teams. Despite being a low-key player and coach, his work was rewarded by Rahul Dravid, who took him under his wings at the NCA. Once Dravid moved away from the NCA, Kotak continued to work under VVS Laxman and closely with A teams during shadow tours.

A dour batter during his playing days, Kotak has always maintained that coaching demands separate skill sets. “Just because you could hit the ball a long way, doesn’t mean you create hard-hitters, or if you could defend well, you can teach defense well. How you played, has got nothing to do with how you coach,” he once told HT. “My understanding is you need to gain some coaching education, experience, be broadminded and a good listener to do well as a coach.”

Shadow tour ahead of Eng Tests

While Test regulars like Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be seen in action for the next round of Ranji Trophy action, the real audition for the England tour in June will be the A series against England Lions in lead up to the tour. Plans are underway to put together a shadow tour spanning three first-class matches between the last week of May and middle of June to give the selectors an opportunity to judge form and fitness for the five-Test series.

Between March 6 and May 25 when the IPL ends, India’s cricketers will be busy with white-ball action, with the England ODI series and Champions trophy preceding IPL 2025. Like last year, players whose IPL teams do not make the playoffs will leave for England early to acclimatize to the conditions.

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Stay updated with the latest sports news, including latest headlines and updates from the Olympics 2024, where Indian athletes will compete for glory in Paris. Catch all the action from tennis Grand Slam tournaments, follow your favourite football teams and players with the latest match results, and get the latest on international hockey tournaments and series.
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