Sitanshu Kotak to join Indian team for white-ball series

Former India player, who is with the NCA, will join head coach Gambhir and his staff for the England home series.
Sitanshu Kotak
Sitanshu Kotak (Photo | PTI)
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CHENNAI: Even as the BCCI are waiting to announce the ODI squad for the England series and the Champions Trophy, Sitanshu Kotak seems to have been added to the coaching staff for the upcoming white-ball assignment that begins next week.

Kotak, expected to work with the batting group, is a part of the National Cricket Academy i.e Centre of Excellence. The former cricketer is a regular among the coaching staff whenever an India A team or a second string senior team plays. He, along with other NCA coaching staff like Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Sairaj Bahutule, Munish Bali, Apurva Desai, Subhadeep Ghosh usually take turns to travel with the team, playing their respective roles.

Kotak's inclusion this time around comes with some significance. Since the Test series loss in Australia, a lot is going on behind the scenes in Indian men's cricket and one of the key things discussed is the lack of a specific batting coach and the failure of the batting unit Down Under. Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are the assistant coaches who are expected to play the role, but with out of form seniors in the side, the contribution of the support staff has come under the scanner. India men also have Morne Morkel as bowling coach and T Dilip as fielding coach to assist Gautam Gambhir.

While Kotak is expected to be with the team during the home series against England, it also makes one wonder about his inclusion for a white-ball series when the batting unit failed in the longest format. His inclusion might add a bit more pressure on Nayar and Ten Doeschate who are already with the team. Meanwhile, how things go forward from here on will be interesting to see in the lead up to the Champions Trophy.

The three ODIs against England will be the precursor to the global event and all eyes will be on the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who have been struggling to get some runs in the longest format. How they do in this series and the Champions Trophy could well decide their future in international cricket.

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