BCCI Appoints Sitanshu Kotak as India’s Batting Coach, Drops Big Names | Report

BCCI Appoints Sitanshu Kotak as India’s Batting Coach: Former English batsman Kevin Pietersen has now put his name forward for the position of the new batting coach for India. The BCCI was becoming increasingly concerned after the unsuccessful tour of Australia. But disappointment greeted the former great when the BCCI appointed Sitanshu Kotak as the new batting coach. The legendary Saurashtra cricketer is expected to take over with the home white-ball series against England, which comprises five T20Is followed by three ODIs from January 22.

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Gautam Gambhir leads the rest of the Indian coaching crew, which includes bowlers Mike Morkel, fielding coach T Dilip, and two assistant coaches, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate. Since the side now has no specialist batting coach, both Gambhir and Nayar had focused on the batters when the BCCI appointed them. However, after a horrible display from the batters in India's home whitewash against New Zealand and a defeat on the tour against Australia where they lost 1-3, BCCI decided to go on and put in place a new batting coach.

The Indian Express reports that Kotak will assume the reins just before the much-anticipated forthcoming Champions Trophy tournament, first getting into the act during the T20I Series at home against England. The Suryakumar Yadav-led team will reportedly land in Kolkata for the first match on January 18, where India will have an approximately three-day camp.

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A look at Sitanshu Kotak's coaching credentials

The 52-year-old former captain of Saurashtra is among the domestic cricket legends in India who played professionally from 1992 to 2013. He scored 8061 runs in 130 first-class matches at an average of 47.16, including 15 centuries and 55 half-centuries. He scored 3083 runs in List A cricket at 42.33.

He would coach Saurashtra after retirement before taking up a position as the batting coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and served the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in the IPL as an assistant coach. In the past four years, he served as the batting coach for India A; his last assignment was a tour of Australia. He was also the interim head coach of the Indian team, led by Jasprit Bumrah, in the T20I series in Ireland in August 2023.

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