India's batting coach
Sitanshu Kotak
has expressed confidence in captain Rohit Sharma despite his recent performance struggles.
Following a disappointing Test series in Australia and a brief innings of two runs in the ODI opener against England at Nagpur, Kotak remains optimistic about Rohit's capabilities.
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"See, I personally don't think there is any problem. In the last three One-dayers (before the series opener in Nagpur), Rohit scored 56, 64, and 35 (against Sri Lanka last year), nearly averaging 50-plus.
We are talking about a player who has got 31 ODI hundreds. When he keeps scoring runs in back-to-back matches, nobody asks, 'When will he fail?'"
"Sometimes when somebody gets out or is going through a lean patch, I don't think I would be worried about their form. Yes, in the Australia Test series – that was a tough time. About the One-dayers, the way he batted in the last three One-days before the first match (in Nagpur), he has always been scoring runs. So, not really so much concern about that," Kotak stated during the pre-match press conference before the second ODI in Cuttack.
India successfully chased down 249 in Nagpur despite losing two early wickets. Shubman Gill's 87 off 96 balls, supported by half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel, helped secure the victory in 38.4 overs.
"(Shubman) Gill, Shreyas (Iyer) and Axar (Patel) batted really well. You are going to lose some wickets, whether it's openers or middle-order. As a batting unit or as a team, there were a lot of positives – the way we batted, the way we showed our intent," Kotak added.
Prior to the Nagpur ODI, Rohit had responded with frustration when questioned about his Test series performance in Australia. He emphasised that ODIs and Tests are different formats with distinct batting approaches.
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