India's Batting Coach Analyzes Performance in Anderson-Tendulkar Series

Insights from India's Batting Coach

Manchester [UK], July 27: Sitanshu Kotak, the batting coach for India, shared his thoughts on the performance of the number three batsmen during the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar series against England. He noted that both Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan had promising starts but failed to convert them into substantial scores.

Despite these challenges, Kotak does not view this as a significant issue, pointing out Sai's commendable batting in the first innings of the fourth Test in Manchester as a positive takeaway. In the series opener, Sai batted at No. 3 but scored a duck in the first innings and managed only 30 runs in the second.

After this performance, he was dropped from the lineup, leading to Karun being elevated in the batting order. However, Nair has only accumulated 131 runs across three Tests, averaging 21.83.

During a media interaction, Kotak remarked, “I don’t see it as a problem, to be honest. Yes, Karun had a few starts but couldn’t capitalize, and Sai scored 30 in the second innings of the first game before getting out. However, I don’t think it’s a major concern. The way Sai batted in the first innings was quite impressive.”

Sai, returning to the playing eleven for the fourth Test, scored a crucial fifty in the first innings but was dismissed for a golden duck by Chris Woakes in the second innings.

Kotak also addressed Nair's exclusion from the fourth Test, explaining that the decision was made to alleviate potential pressure on him. “It doesn’t mean the management isn’t supporting him. He has been batting well and getting good starts. Sometimes, the management feels that a change might relieve pressure, especially in a crucial match like the fourth Test,” he added.

As Day 4 concluded, India stood at 174/2, trailing England by 137 runs. If the Indian team manages to turn the match around on the final day, it would be a notable achievement.

England failed to take any wickets in the last session, allowing Indian batsmen to score 126 runs, with KL Rahul remaining unbeaten at 87 and Shubman Gill at 78.

Brief Scores: India 358 & 174/2 (KL Rahul 87*, Shubman Gill 78*; Chris Woakes 2/48) vs England 669 (Joe Root 150, Ben Stokes 141, Ravindra Jadeja 4/143).