Who is Shitanshu Kotak? Meet India’s potential next batting coach

The talks of having a full-time batting coach for the Indian Cricket Team are surfacing all over the internet. While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasn't confirmed anything yet, several reports suggest that the management will have a batting coach after the team's disastrous performance in the home series against New Zealand and the BGT series in Australia. A BCCI source gave the name Sitanshu Kotak to the Times of India as India's potential batting coach. 

"Yes, Kotak's name is being seriously discussed for the role of India's batting coach, and it will start with the Champions Trophy in February. The BCCI is likely to make an official announcement in this regard. 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," a reliable BCCI source told TOI.

Who is Sitanshu Kotak?

Saurastra's former batter, Sitanshu Kotak, played domestic cricket from 1993 to 2013. After playing for ten years, the left-handed batter amassed 8061 runs in 130 first-class matches at an average of 41.76. He scored 15 hundred and 55 fifties in his career.

Post-retirement, he spent the rest of his time coaching the Saurashtra players and then entered the National Cricket Academy as the batting coach. He has been appointed as the head coach of the India A team for the last four years. Under him, the team travelled to Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia and performed well. Hence, having him around will benefit the players. 

The current Indian team has Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach), Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Ryan Ten Doeschate (assistant coach), and T Dilip (fielding coach). Gautam Gambhir is the head coach of the team. However, the board has decided to appoint a batting specialist who will help the players in the upcoming times. An official announcement regarding this is awaited.