Sipu Jha
India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has thrown his weight behind Sanju Samson, insisting that a short run of poor scores has not shaken the team management’s belief in the wicketkeeper-batter. Samson has struggled in the ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand, managing only 40 runs from four outings at an average of 10. Despite the numbers, Kotak made it clear that the staff see this as a temporary phase rather than a decline in ability.
“Sanju is a senior player, he is very good. He probably has not scored as many runs as everybody would like, but that’s part of the cricketing career. Sometimes you have five innings in a row where you score so many runs and sometimes you have a little tight period,” Kotak said while addressing the media on the eve of the fifth T20I. He stressed that Samson has the full backing of the think tank during this challenging stretch. “It’s all up to an individual how to keep his mind strong and, obviously, our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind. He is practicing and he is working hard, so we all know what Sanju is capable of. I don’t think anything more to say about Sanju because he has been really good,” he added. Those words were reflected on the training ground at the Greenfield Stadium, where Samson spent close to half an hour batting in the nets. He began by facing side-armers Hari and Raghu, then took on left-arm spinner Axar Patel. The session was followed by a brief discussion with head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel. If he features on Saturday, it will mark Samson’s first international appearance at his home venue. Kotak also highlighted the value of the recent white-ball fixtures as India fine-tune their preparations for the T20 World Cup, calling the New Zealand and South Africa series important building blocks. “It’s been a very important series for us. It is obviously useful because before the World Cup you kind of start getting into a rhythm, you start finding the combinations and you try and give players an opportunity,” he said. “All that you can do when we are playing. So, these five games, and obviously, before that South Africa (series) is also very useful for us.” On team selection, Kotak indicated that Ishan Kishan is likely to return for the final T20I after missing the previous match with an injury. “Ishan Kishan has always been good whenever he got an opportunity. Sometimes wicketkeeper batters don’t get opportunities. But whenever Ishan has played, he has always done well,” he said. “And very likely (he will play), at the moment, as far as I know. The physio is here for practice. So, physios will take a call. But I feel very likely.” Kotak credited the presence of naturally aggressive players such as Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek Sharma for allowing India to maintain an attacking approach throughout the series. He reserved special praise for Abhishek’s clarity and technique, noting that his strokeplay is rooted in solid fundamentals rather than reckless hitting. “He does speak to Gautam, he does speak to me and Surya and some other players also. So, he is very open to everything,” Kotak said, before adding that Abhishek’s shots are played “on merit of the ball” with strong basics. The batting coach was also pleased to see captain Suryakumar rediscover form with consecutive half-centuries after a quiet spell. “There will be a dry patch in T20s and you still have to go hard, you still have to play for the team, which is what he did. So glad that he got a good two innings, that’s a good sign for the team anyway,” Kotak said.
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