The Indian team’s abysmal batting performances in the past few months that led to a historic 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand at home before surrendering the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade, with a 3-1 humiliation against Australia during the trip Down Under, has forced the BCCI to mull bolstering the Gautam Gambhir-led support staff by adding a specialised batting coach ahead of the white-ball series against England, starting January 22 in Kolkata.
According to reliable sources, former Saurashtra stalwart Sitanshu Kotak, currently the India A head coach, is the front-runner for the job. The 52-year-old had coached the India A side during tours of Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia, besides being the head coach of the Jasprit Bumrah-led team that toured Ireland for a T20I series in August 2023.
A domestic cricket giant, Kotak amassed 8061 runs from 130 first-class matches with 15 centuries and 55 half-centuries. The left-handed batter scored 3083 runs in 89 List A matches during a career which started from the 1992-93 season till 2013. Post retirement, he entered full-time coaching and after coaching Saurashtra, joined the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru as a batting coach.
Kotak’s addition was necessitated after India’s lacklustre show with the bat across the eight Tests (three against New Zealand and five against Australia) although there was a general perception that head coach Gambhir doubled up as the batting coach for the side. Gambhir’s army of support staff already has Abhishek Nair and Ryan ten Doeschate as assistant coaches, Morne Morkel (bowling coach) and T Dilip (fielding coach).
However, considering the longish drought of runs from the Indian top order, especially in red-ball cricket, the role of the incumbent support staff was questioned by several cricket experts, including Sunil Gavaskar.
“Aapke coaching staff kya kar rahe the? (What was your coaching staff doing in Australia?) Your bowling coach and your batting coach… your batting coach, in particular, against New Zealand when we were bowled out for 46, and the way we were defeated in the remaining matches. Batting mein koi dum nahi tha (There was no punch in the batting). Here also our batting was not strong enough, so questions should be asked – what have you guys done? Why can’t we see any improvement?”
Gavaskar went on to add on Star Sports: “We would understand if you say that the bowling was top class and our batters couldn’t face them. Even the greatest batters have difficulty in facing good bowling. But when good bowling is not happening then tell me what has the coaching staff done? You may ask should we change the batting order, I will ask should we change the coaching staff? We have 2-3 months before going to England (for the Tests).”
Pietersen expresses interest
Within hours after reports of BCCI hunting a batting coach emerged, former England skipper Kevin Pietersen dropped hints of throwing his hat in the ring. Pietersen, who is currently in South Africa as part of the SA20 broadcasting team, said he was “available” to take on the role of India’s batting coach.
Pietersen, who featured in 101 Tests for England, scored 8181 runs at an average of 47.28. With 23 centuries, he sits third among England’s all-time list for most Test hundreds, led by Joe Root (36) and Alastair Cook (33). In white-ball cricket, Pietersen was a stand-out performer, scoring 4440 runs in 136 ODIs at an average of 40.73 besides boasting of an impressive record in the 37 T20Is that he played for England, scoring 1176 runs at a strike of 140.
Despite all his career feats, Pietersen, however lacks the experience of coaching a top-tier side.
Training camp in Kolkata
In the build-up to the five T20Is and three ODIs against the Englishmen, the Indian team will regroup for a three-day camp after landing in Kolkata on Saturday.
While the T20I side has already experienced a transition post the 2024 T20 World Cup win, with the retirements of the senior trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, it remains to be seen if the selectors throw any surprises while announcing the squad for the three ODIs, perceived as the final preparation before the ICC Champions Trophy, starting February 19.
It is likely that the provisional Champions Trophy squad will predominantly feature players from the three home ODIs against England.