Who is Sitanshu Kotak, The Domestic Stalwart BCCI is Considering to Appoint as Team India Batting Coach?

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Sitanshu Kotak, a domestic stalwart, has reportedly emerged as one of the candidates for the Indian men's cricket team batting coach role as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is considering expanding the support staff of Gautam Gambhir.

BCCI has taken the step to add a batting coach to the current Indian coaching staff after the team's struggles with the bat in the recent Test series against New Zealand at home and the following away tour in Australia.

Following the batting failure in the home series white-wash by New Zealand and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series Down Under, Team India's batting and the performance of the support staff has come under the scanner, prompting BCCI to consider adding another member to the coaching team.

The current support staff of head coach Gambhir includes Morne Morkel (bowling coach), Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach), Ryan ten Doeschate (assistant coach) and T Dilip (fielding coach). Now, Kotak has reportedly emerged as the front-runner should a batting coach be appointed.

Reports had emerged that former domestic players are among the names being considered for the batting head coach role. According to a report in Times of India, the Indian cricket body is considering appointing former domestic stalwart Kotak as Team India's batting coach.

Who is Sitanshu Kotak?

Kotak, a domestic stalwart, who captained Saurashtra during his playing days, and amassed 8061 runs in 130 first-class matches at an average of 41.76, with 15 hundreds and 55 fifties from 1992-93 season to 2013 season.

Since his retirement, the seasoned cricketer has entered full-time coaching, taking on the role at his state team Saurashtra, guiding them to their first-ever Ranji Trophy title in 2020 and also served as batting coach at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

The left-handed batter also served as the head coach of the India A team, replacing Rahul Dravid in the role. In fact, he has been regularly appointed by the BCCI as the India A head coach, as the side went on tours to Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia. He was also the assistant coach of the now defunct Gujarat Lions in IPL 2017.

Kotak was the India A head coach during the tour of Australia in November last year. Sitanshu also served as the head coach of the Jasprit Bumrah-captained Indian team which toured Ireland for a T20I series in August 2023, and the tour to South Africa for the ODI series that same year.