"How does all this news come out?" - Aakash Chopra on Team India reportedly getting a new batting coach

Former player Aakash Chopra has questioned how the news of Sitanshu Kotak likely being added to Team India's coaching staff came out without an official announcement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He urged the Indian cricket's governing body to communicate proactively to prevent source-based reports that have become the norm lately.

India suffered a 1-3 defeat against Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test series. Kotak will reportedly be appointed the Indian team's batting coach to address the frailties observed in that department Down Under.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the cricketer-turned-commentator wondered how the media came to know about Sitanshu Kotak's potential appointment as India's batting coach.

"The biggest news is that Sitanshu Kotak has become India's batting coach. He has been added to the coaching staff. The BCCI might announce it officially after some time. How does all this news come out? Why doesn't the BCCI announce it themselves? If you start telling proactively, these source-based news might end," he said (1:55).

Chopra noted that Kotak was a prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket and was known for his 'idiosyncrasies.'

"Sitanshu Kotak has been associated with the coaching setup for a long time. He has played against me as well and he used to score a lot of runs as well. He used to stop when someone moved close to the sight screen or in the dressing room. He had a unique playing style as well. He was a run-machine. He used to irritate the opposing team a lot with his idiosyncrasies," he observed.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that Team India also have Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar as assistant coaches. He questioned the duo's roles if Sitanshu Kotak is appointed batting coach.

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"I am extremely eager to see whether India's main players will play those matches" - Aakash Chopra on reported India A tour before IND vs ENG 2025 Tests

India A played two unofficial Tests against Australia A before BGT 2024-25. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on reports about India A playing three games against the England Lions ahead of India's Test series against England later this year, Aakash Chopra expressed his keenness to know whether the visitors' prominent players would feature in those matches.

"There was another news. When India will go to England, there will be a few India A matches before that. Their T20 tournament might be on at that time. So you might not get very high-quality players, but as per the report, the BCCI is confident that high-quality players will be available," he said (11:55) in the same video.

"However, I am extremely eager to see whether India's main players will play those matches because we refused in Australia. They said they wouldn't play friendly matches. There were two matches and you didn't play a single one. They played an intra-squad match and said that's good enough. Will we play, and I hope we do. We don't know the quality of it but you should play," the former India opener added.

The Indian selectors added KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel to the India A squad for the second unofficial Test against Australia A before BGT 2024-25. However, the rest of the squad, barring Prasidh Krishna, who was already part of India A, didn't play any official practice games before the Test series against Australia.