AHMEDABAD: India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak backed the batters to continue the aggressive approach despite the stop-start and mini collapses the defending champions have seen so far in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
In their first match against the USA, India went from 45-2 to 77/6. Against Namibia in Delhi, they had a lull period when spinners came on before collapsing from 205/5 to 205/9 in the death overs. Even against Pakistan, India lost momentum after Ishan Kishan's dismissal and lost both Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya in quick succession. As they gear up for their last league game against the Netherlands at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Kotak was asked if there were any concerns or whether they would rethink the aggressive approach.
In response, Kotak said, “Playing aggressive cricket is important. But because of a couple of failures, plans won’t change. Plans change according to the situation. It doesn’t matter whether someone has scored runs in the last two innings or not. What the team needs at that time and in those conditions is more important.”
The batting coach cited the example of skipper Suryakumar Yadav taking the innings deep against the USA in Mumbai. “That is playing according to the situation. Whether someone scored or not is not important. What the team requires and how the player executes that is more important,” he said.
Kotak also backed Tilak Varma, who has struggled to get going so far in the tournament, especially after the Pakistan game in Colombo, where he made 25 off 24 balls. “I think we executed what we had planned. Every player has a precise role. We shouldn’t talk too much about it. But Tilak played exactly the way the team wanted. What we had planned till the 10th over after an early wicket, including Surya’s timing, was more or less what we had decided. Sometimes in matches, if one or two boundaries don’t come, people feel differently. We can’t expect boundaries whenever we want. I think he played really well. We were more focused on partnerships,” he said.
The batting coach said that India will not take the Netherlands lightly and will use the chance to get acclimatised to the conditions in Ahmedabad, where they are playing South Africa next on February 22. “Every match is important for us. But on this ground, as you said, there is a match on the 22nd, and the finals can also be here. So, obviously, it is good for the players to get used to these conditions,” he said. “I don't think there will be any experiment. But yes, looking at the wicket and conditions, there might be something different. But I don't really think we look at it as a game which is not important. Your team wants to be on the same momentum. So for us, I don't think we think it is a less-pressure game or a more-pressure game. We played the last game with the same intent. I think we will play the next game with the same intent as well,” he added.
