Gautam Gambhir recommended former Saurashtra player as batting coach in review meeting of BGT 2024-25: Reports

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir reportedly recommended Sitanshu Kotak's name as the batting coach. The former Saurashtra player was named the new batting coach on Thursday (January 16). He is expected to join ahead of the home limited-overs series against England, most likely before the start of the five-match T20I series.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to make an official announcement on Kotak. However, a report in the Times of India (via Hindustan Times) states that Kotak will join the Indian team upon being recommended by Gautam Gambhir during the BCCI review meeting that was recently held in Mumbai.

The meeting was held on the back of India's 1-3 defeat in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. Captain Rohit Sharma also attended the meeting in Mumbai.

"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 was quoted as saying.

The addition of a new specialist batting coach comes after the struggle of the Indian batters in the home Test series against New Zealand and the away Test series against 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," a BCCI source was quoted as saying.

Sitanshu Kotak previously served as Saurashtra coach and went on to join the National Cricket Academy (NCA) as a batting coach thereafter. He was also the coach of the India A team. Moreover, Kotak was also the interim coach when India toured Ireland for a T20I series in August 2023.

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Head coach Gautam Gambhir under fire after series defeat in Australia

Following India's tough 1-3 series defeat in Australia, head coach Gautam Gambhir is under the scanner. The loss also ended India's chances of making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Gambhir's next assignment will be the home limited overs series against England, followed by the Champions Trophy. The team and the head coach will be under trememdous pressure to deliver, particularly in the ICC event.

With the addition of a new batting coach, Gambhir will hope that the problems of the batters are soon resolved as India head into a crucial phase with an ICC event on the horizon.