Axar Patel shockingly denies confirming Sitanshu Kotak has been brought in as India’s batting coach
India’s newly appointed T20I vice-captain Axar Patel said he has no idea about the change in support staff ahead of the five-match T20I series against England. The Indian all-rounder was addressing the media before the series opener when asked about the support staff.
The Indian team’s support staff is under scrutiny after the team’s poor performance in the last two Test series. India suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat in the home Test series against New Zealand. This ended India’s unbeaten run at home which had been going back to the 2012/13 season.
The loss to New Zealand was followed by a 3-1 defeat in Australia as India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since they brought it back in 2017. The defeats also ended India’s hopes of qualifying for the third consecutive Test World Cup.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak have a long talk from the last 20 minutes and count down. @RevSportzGlobal pic.twitter.com/DH9TfdryNI
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) January 20, 2025
With the team underperforming against New Zealand and Australia, the support staff found themselves in the firing line. According to recent reports, the BCCI has decided to make a new addition to the support staff. Former Saurashtra star Sitanshu Kotak has been roped in as the batting coach for the upcoming series against England.
Although the BCCI is yet to make a formal announcement, Kotak was spotted at the Eden Gardens where the Indian team is training ahead of the first T20I. And when Axar Patel was asked about the support staff, he said:
“In terms of the support staff, I haven’t been with the team for the last three months so I don’t know what happened in Australia, but here the support staff is the same and we talked about what we want to do in the games.”
Although Kotak was added to the support staff, the BCCI decided not to fire any other member. Gautam Gambhir is currently the head coach of the team while Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are the assistant coaches. On the other hand, Morne Morkel and T Dilip are the bowling and fielding coaches.
Axar Patel looks at an impressive outing:
Axar Patel will look to make a big impact in the upcoming series as he looks to justify the team management and selectors’ decision to make him vice-captain. A regular member of the Indian T20I team, Axar Patel played a huge role in India’s victory in the T20 World Cup last year. He will look to make an impact with both bat and ball in the upcoming series against England.
“Being vice-captain comes with an added responsibility. Sometimes we have to take tough decisions,” said Axar Patel.
Meanwhile, the first match of the series is scheduled to take place on Wednesday (January 22) at Eden Gardens.
