Sitanshu Kotak, India’s batting coach, has denied that there was any miscommunication between team management and senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, stating that both stalwarts communicate regularly and transparently.
Rumours of a split came after Rohit and Kohli quit Test cricket and Shubman Gill replaced Rohit as India’s ODI captain. It was also reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) convened a meeting during the South Africa series to address alleged communication issues between senior players and selectors. But, Kotak confirmed that there is no dispute and indicated that the team’s management and senior players are united.
“They discuss with Gautam (Gambhir) about ODI formats, about the matches we have, and our plans going (ahead) to South Africa (World Cup in 2027). Most of the time I’m there and if I’m listening. They definitely share the experience and I always see them talking. Obviously, in social media, you see a lot of things which I try to avoid seeing,” said Kotak as quoted by The Indian Express.
“They are thorough professionals. So I don’t think they need to be saying they need to do this or that. In fact, the amount of experience they have, they can share a lot of ideas with other players and they do discuss.”
Sitanshu Kotak
Kotak said that Rohit Sharma and Kohli had already spoken of their intent in future during a meeting with team head coach Gambhir. But there have been no public comments by team management about the future of the pair and the selectors are not passing any rash judgments.
Both players have been playing well, despite possessing uncertain long-term roles. Since the South Africa series, Kohli has two centuries and three scores in fifties. Rohit, though had a good run of form post-Australia series in which he struck three half-centuries and one century.
“See, both of them are so senior and so experienced. They definitely make plans. They want to practice at all the venues. If they feel they need to, they’ll go a couple of days in advance. They practice because they both also have been such outstanding players for India. Planning-wise and all, they are brilliant. They know what they need to do. They know what their body needs, not only batting, even fitness, whatever requirements they have.”
Sitanshu Kotak
