Sitanshu Kotak set to join Team India as batting coach ahead of England T20Is | Read

India will host England for five T20Is and three ODIs, their first bilateral series after the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Kotak previously served as the India A head coach and has an impressive first-class career, amassing 8,061 runs in 130 matches at an average of 41.76

Kotak’s appointment comes as the BCCI prepares to reassess Gautam Gambhir’s role as head coach following India’s performance in the upcoming Champions Trophy. This evaluation arises amid concerns of unrest within the team, reportedly stemming from Gambhir’s efforts to dismantle the long-standing “superstar culture.”

Since taking charge in July last year, Gambhir has overseen a challenging period for the Indian team, marked by six losses in 10 Tests and a bilateral ODI series defeat in Sri Lanka.

These results have cast uncertainty over the international futures of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, both struggling with poor form. Meanwhile, Gambhir’s own position has come under scrutiny, further complicated by rumours of a rift with key players during the Border-Gavaskar Test series in Australia, which India lost 1-3.

A former left-handed batter and captain of Saurashtra, Kotak previously served as the India A head coach during the tour of Australia in November last year and the Jasprit Bumrah-led Indian T20I team’s tour of Ireland in August 2023.

Kotak boasts an impressive first-class career, amassing 8,061 runs in 130 matches at an average of 41.76, including 15 centuries and 55 half-centuries, during a span from the 1992–93 season to 2013.

Following his retirement from domestic cricket in 2013, Kotak transitioned to coaching. He began with Saurashtra before joining the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru as a batting coach. Over the past four years, he has been India A’s head coach, overseeing tours to Bangladesh, South Africa, and Australia. Additionally, he served as an assistant coach for the now-defunct Gujarat Lions during IPL 2017.