Many India A tours have seen Sitanshu Kotak as the head coach, serving as Laxman’s assistant coach during the T20Is in Ireland. He is gearing up to join the men’s set up in India as the new batting coach in the upcoming England T20I series starting 22 January 2025.
Kotak’s Background and Role with India A and NCA
Saurashtra’s former captain and batter, Sitanshu Kotak will be joining the Indian support staff led by Gautam Gambhir and serve as batting coach for the impending T20I series against England.
Kotak (52) will begin with a five-match Home series against England starting 22 January 2025. He retired back in 2013 after his first-class career survived for over two decades and served his tenure as the batting coach at NCA (National Cricket Academy) since 2019.
Kotak also served as VVS Laxman’s assistant coach when Laxman helmed white-ball bilateral engagements for India and also acted as the head coach in many India A tours in the last few years.
The setup for the Indian coaching has been witnessing a difficult situation with a long list of poor results under Gambhir’s supervision since he took over in July 2024.
The existing support staff has also been handpicked by Gautam Gambhir, which includes the former fast bowler Morne Morkel who was also the bowling coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, the Essex caption, and Mumbai allrounder, Abhishek Nayar, all serving as assistant coaches. The fielding coach T Dillip was retained during Dravid’s tenure.
Due to the lack of tactical expertise, especially on the batting front, the coaching staff gradually became the talking point during the Australian tour where India lost by 1-3.
The talented Shubham Gill and the experienced Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were off-colour, failing to regain their form during the tour. This suggests that Gambhir will have a more important role to play in the upcoming series since currently he is known as inefficient as a technical coach.
India’s Coaching Staff and the Impact of Kotak’s Appointment
Sunil Gavaskar, the batting legend, said post the Australian series, while speaking to the broadcaster, how the condition performance of the Indian cricketers can be improved and that the “Throw-downs will not get you anything.”
He added, “You had to improve their technique and temperament, which you haven’t done. So, make sure to ask questions from the batters who have not made runs, but also ask the coaching staff what have they done?”.
Gavaskar also added that BCCI delivered a review conference in Mumbai a week ago to assess the disastrous run of India’s series defeats including the white ball loss in Sri Lanka, the astonishing 3-0 defeat against NZ, and yet another the loss against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The plummeting form of Indian batters and their subsequent failures was one of the many reasons why they were defeated, although there is no confirmation regarding Kotak’s long-term appointment or whether he will be travelling with the team to the vital England tours during the Test series in June.
The domestic stalwart, Kotak has scored over 8000 first class runs in 130 appearances and joined as a coach after he retired in 2013. Kotak, as coach, has been instrumental in providing a steely appearance to the Saurashtra side.
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Although he has been a low-key coach and player, his contribution was appreciated and rewarded by Dravid and once the latter moved away, Kotak carried on with his commitments under VVS Laxman during shadow tours.
Kotak’s expertise in the T20I series against England is expected to bolster the team’s preparations while focusing on addressing the current batting forms and strategies.
