Sitanshu Kotak To Be The New Batting Coach For India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has appointed Sitanshu Kotak to the position of batting coach of the Indian team for the upcoming limited overs cricket matches against England to be played in India. There will be five T20Is, followed by three ODIs. As for the schedule in India, it will only begin after the Border Gavaskar series, with the T20I match to be played at Eden Gardens on January 22.
The Indian team is expected to report to Kolkata on January 18, and a three-day camp will be organized in the eastern metropolis.
“Kotak will join the Indian team as a batting coach. The Indian team is likely to have a three-day camp in Kolkata, and players will report on January 18,” the source from BCCI said.
The team is spearheaded by head coach Gautam Gambhir with Abhishek Nayar (Assistant coach), Ryan ten Doeschate (assistant coach), Morne Morkel (bowler coach), and T Dilip (field coach).
The question was raised after the India-Australia tour, with discussion in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy league.
Also Read: India`s T20 Squad For England Series
Although the exact reasons for introducing Kotak are still unknown, it has been discussed that a specialized batting coach is needed going forward, fot Kotak has been the batting coach for India A for quite some time now.
Kotak really hasn’t set the world on fire when it comes to List A matches; yet, he still has great technique, having made 3083 runs at an average of 42.33 with a top score of 122*. Besides, he has scored over 8000 runs in first-class cricket, with several performances on his behalf bearing testimony to his doggedness in batting.
India’s cricket legends, Sunil Gavaskar, have before substantiated the abysmal showing of the support staff of the Indian side after the tour to Australia ended with a score of 1-3.
While many players on the Indian cricket team have been heavily criticized, Gavaskar also pointed fingers at the coaches.
“Aapke coaching staff kya kar rahe the? (What was your coaching staff doing in Australia?) Your bowling coach and your batting coach… your batting coach, in particular, against New Zealand when we were bowled out for 46, and the way we were defeated in the remaining matches. Batting mein koi dum nahi tha (There was no punch in the batting). Here also our batting was not strong enough, so questions should be asked – what have you guys done? Why can’t we see any improvement?”
Gavaskar added on Star Sports, “We would understand, had the bowling been top class, our batters couldn’t face them; even great batters had difficulty facing good bowling. But when good bowling doesn’t even happen, then tell me what has the coaching staff done? You may ask should we change the batting order; I will ask should we change the coaching staff? We had 2-3 months before going to England (for Tests).”
