Rohit too good a player to feel pressure: Sitanshu Kotak

Rohit too good a player to feel pressure: Sitanshu Kotak

Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak threw his weight behind Rohit Sharma after the latter's underwhelming returns in the ongoing ODI series against England.

Rohit's struggles were on display in the second ODI in Cardiff, which England won by four wickets. He ended the Powerplay on 10 off 18 as India raced to 61/1, before falling for a 47-ball 26 attempting a sweep of Will Jacks.

Rohit hasn't been in the best form coming into the series. In eight ODIs this year, he has a solitary half-century and averages 30.12. Amid speculation the selectors were moving on from the former India captain in their build-up to the 2027 World Cup, Kotak stated there was no pressure on the master batter.

"I don't think a player as big as Rohit can feel the pressure," Kotak said. "He's too good a player to feel that. Yes he hasn't scored in two games. I don't think that makes any difference. But today also it looked like he'll get a good innings but that's okay."

While Rohit couldn't get going, captain Shubman Gill fell for a 30-ball 31. Virat Kohli started briskly, reeling off three boundaries in his first 11 deliveries before falling for 65.

Kotak was against the opinion that Rohit was "struggling", and was bullish of him turning things around at Lord's.

"On a day, there are a lot of batters I have seen, they don't get that momentum what they are looking for," Kotak said. "You might see a completely different innings from Rohit Sharma in Lord's. I wouldn't use the word struggling."

India were placed strongly at 178/3, with Kohli's 65 driving the innings alongside Shreyas Iyer's top score of 66. Once Kohli departed, India collapsed to 193/7, eventually mustering 233.

Kotak reckoned a score in the 270-280 range would have been challenging, adding that Kohli sent word to the dressing room on the pitch behaviour.

"When there is a double pace or double bounce, it is more about a batter adapting there," Kotak said.

Kotak also noted the wicket got slightly slower in the second innings, and called Washington Sundar's hamstring injury a "bad injury" that was a big blow.

"Second half, the wicket maybe got a little slower and Joe Root just stayed on the wicket. But I think 233, if one batter gets a hundred, it's not a big score to chase."

Kotak played down speculation of a reported rift between Kohli and head coach Gautam Gambhir, saying there was no need to bridge any communication between the two.

"No, Virat and Gautam would've spoken about 10 times today. I don't think that needs any bridge," Kotak said.