Gautam Gambhir behind Sitanshu Kotak’s appointment, asked for batting coach during BCCI review meeting: Report

Sitanshu Kotak, on Thursday, was named India’s new batting coach ahead of the impending limited-overs series at home against England and the Champions Trophy next month. The former Saurashtra stalwart will join head coach Gautam Gambhir’s support staff starting January 18, ahead of the start of the five-match T20I series against England.

Although BCCI has yet to make the official announcement on Kotak’s hiring, a report in the Times of India revealed that the domestic cricket legend will join the Indian set-up after Gambhir recommended his name during the recently held BCCI review meeting in Mumbai following the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and the BCCI officials agreed to the request. The meeting was also attended by India captain Rohit Sharma.

“Coach Gambhir had asked for a batting coach during the review meeting. Discussions were ongoing since then and now Kotak will be added to the support staff,” a senior BCCI official, who was part of the meeting, told the national daily.

BCCI felt the need to add a specialist batting coach to the Indian set-up after a dreadful show by the batters in the home series against New Zealand in November, followed by the 1-3 loss in Australia.

“Most of our batsmen [batters], including the seniors, have struggled badly in the last two series. There’s clearly a need to strengthen the support staff of the Indian men’s cricket team from the batting point of view,” said a reliable source in the BCCI.

Sitanshu Kotak, a long-time NCA batting coach

Following his retirement, the 52-year-old had served as the Saurashtra coach before joining the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru as its batting coach. The BCCI then appointed Kotak as the coach for the India A team, with his most recent assignment being the tour of Australia. He also was the interim head coach for the Jasprit Bumrah-led Indian side in the T20I tour of Ireland in August 2023.