New Delhi: The Indian cricket board is currently in a position where it is considered the boss of world cricket. It has the power to assert its will in every situation, but when it comes to winning on the field, the players need to give their best performance. When back-to-back losses occur, it was inevitable for the board to take action. First, New Zealand defeated India at home, and then Australia completed the job by beating India on their home ground. Newly appointed Gautam Gambhir’s honeymoon period is also now over.
Along with this, just before the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, there was a new addition to the coaching staff. Sitanshu Kotak has been appointed as Team India’s batting coach. He will work closely with senior batsmen like former captain Virat Kohli and current captain Rohit Sharma. His responsibility will be to help Team India’s batting, which is currently the weakest link, return to its old form as soon as possible. Until the team finds its form, guaranteeing victories in big matches or tournaments like the Champions Trophy will be nearly impossible.
After returning from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Gautam Gambhir made a new demand during a meeting with the board. He requested a new batting coach for the team, someone who could work closely with the senior batsmen and ensure their return to form. According to a report by the Times of India, the board agreed to Gambhir’s demand during a meeting held on January 11. As a result, Sitanshu Kotak was appointed as the new batting coach on Thursday.
Now the question arises, why Sitanshu Kotak?
In fact, apart from the coaching staff working with the Indian team, Sitanshu Kotak is the only one who has worked closely with the team. He has been associated with India A as a coach, where most of the senior players play. Additionally, he was the interim head coach of the Indian T20 team during their tour of Ireland under the captaincy of Jasprit Bumrah in 2023. Kotak is also a batting coach at the NCA (National Cricket Academy), where he worked under the head coach Gautam Gambhir at that time. It is believed that Sitanshu, who is already a part of the system, understands the team better. With only a month remaining before the Champions Trophy begins, including anyone new at this stage would have been risky.
Why Sitanshu Kotak and not Abhishek Nair?
Abhishek Nair is the assistant coach in Gautam Gambhir’s coaching staff. He had also been part of the coaching team at Kolkata Knight Riders alongside Chandrakant Pandit, where Gambhir was the mentor and Nair the batting coach. Given this background, it was expected that Nair would take up the role of batting coach for Team India. However, the scenario has now changed. Sitanshu Kotak, with more experience, will now focus entirely on batting. It is possible that after the Test series defeats against Australia and New Zealand, Gautam Gambhir felt the need for a more experienced and specialized batting coach to address the team’s issues in that department.
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