"It has to be at the right time" - Team India's new batting coach on sharing inputs with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Team India's new batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has asserted that he is open to giving his inputs to senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He, however, admitted that the stalwarts need to be in the right frame of mind to receive advice.
In the wake of India's disastrous batting performances in the three-match home series against New Zealand and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under, Kotak has been added to the team's support staff. The ongoing T20I series against England is his maiden assignment. The 52-year-old will face a bigger challenge when he works with Rohit and Kohli during the subsequent ODI series.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the third India vs England T20, which will be played in Rajkot on Tuesday, January 28, Kotak shared his thoughts on how he would tackle the Rohit-Kohli situation. The 52-year-old said (as quoted by PTI):
"That is the way this game goes, you have to be open and you have to be ready to learn. If they are in a mindset, during that point of time, if they are ready to take any inputs, yes, I would have certain things in my mind and I will say it, but it has to be at the right time and they should feel that they are ready for that."
Kotak, who has been part of the NCA and has worked with India A teams as well, added that he is looking to add some value to the team as the batting coach. The former Saurashtra batter elaborated:
"See, Rohit and Virat are very senior players, but even the players we have now, it is a lot more about sharing, a lot to try and understand how they are planning their game, where they think and then if we can add something. That is how I think.
"If I can add value to 2%, 5%, that is a great thing, because the amount of cricket they have played and the way they have performed, it would not be unfair to say. There might be a lot of things for me also to learn from them," he added.
As a player, Kotak featured in 130 first-class matches, scoring 8,061 runs at an average of 41.76, with 15 hundreds and 55 fifties. He was also part of 89 List A games in which he scored 3,083 runs at an average of 42.23, with three hundreds and 26 half-centuries to his name.
Why the ODI series against England will be crucial for Rohit, Kohli
Both Rohit and Kohli have been retained for the 2025 Champions Trophy. However, their form will be under the scanner in the preceding three-match one-day series against England at home. Rohit managed only 31 runs in five innings during the Test series in Australia. Kohli finished with190 runs, but 100 of those runs came in one innings in Perth.
Significantly, the two veteran cricketers played stellar roles in India's 2023 World Cup campaign in which the Men in Blue finished runners-up. However, India played only three one-dayers in 2024, so the players might need some time to adjust to the format again.