On social media, the battle lines are drawn. It’s Ro-Ko versus Gautam Gambhir, and if you go by the keyboard warriors and armchair experts, the two senior players aren’t on talking terms with the head coach. Going by Sitanshu Kotak, India’s batting coach, nothing could be further from the truth.
“They discuss with Gautam about the ODI format, the matches we have, our plans going to South Africa,” said Kotak at the pre-match press conference. “So most of the time I’m there and if I’m listening, they definitely share the experience and I always see them talking. Obviously, on social media, you see a lot of things which I try to avoid seeing.”
Beyond the rumours and rebuttals, Rohit and Kohli need not be best friends with Gambhir. All of them are thorough professionals and it’s about having a professional relationship. Steve Waugh and Shane Warne barely saw eye-to-eye in that all-conquering Australian team. But according to Warne, once you crossed that boundary line it was always about playing to the team’s cause. Rohit and Kohli have been doing that. They are resplendent in their second wind.
“See, both of them are so senior and so experienced,” said Kotak. “They definitely make plans. They want to practice at all the venues. If they feel they need to, they will go a couple of days in advance. And they practice because they both also have been such outstanding players for India. They know now they are playing one format and I’m sure they are thinking that one format, they want India to win everywhere, when they are there and they are performing.”
He elaborated: “So planning-wise and all, they are brilliant. They know what they need to do. They know what their body needs, not only batting, even fitness, whatever requirements they have.
“So they are thorough professionals. So I don’t think they need to be saying they need to do this or that. In fact, the amount of experience they have, they can share a lot of ideas with other players and they do discuss.”
Will Badoni play?
The second ODI between India and New Zealand would be played here in Rajkot on Wednesday, and on the match eve, six players turned up for India’s optional practice session. One of them was Ayush Badoni, sort of a like-for-like replacement for the injured Washington Sundar who suffered a side strain during the series opener in Vadodara and has been ruled out for the next two matches.
The Delhi player scored 16 runs in five matches (three innings) in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and his part-time off-spin accounted for four wickets in 22 overs. But now that he is here, the 26-year-old is expected to play. He wouldn’t have been picked if he wasn’t good enough.
“I don’t think for any batter, two-three innings would make any difference and it shouldn’t,” said Kotak. “Because if you are scoring 300-plus or you are trying to chase 300-plus, people are going to be aggressive. They will have a couple of innings here and there. If we start worrying about that, then people have to start playing defensive, which we can’t afford. So I wouldn’t worry about that.”
According to him, the team management hasn’t decided on the playing XI yet. “The team will be obviously decided tonight,” the batting coach continued. “But all-rounder-wise, he (Badoni) is there. Obviously, Nitish (Kumar) Reddy is in the team. So two all-rounders we have, not only him. I am not even going to the wicket yet. But obviously, the captain and team management will discuss and decide that tonight.”
Rajkot is Kotak’s home patch. Very few know the conditions here better than him. The pitch at this venue needs to make a serious departure from tradition to aid Reddy’s dibbly-dobbly medium pace. Once again, Badoni is in the Indian team, he is supposed to be good enough to play.
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