Team India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak breaks down his approach after WC win

Whenever the Indian batters had a poor outing at the recentlyconcluded ICC T20 World Cup it was batting coach Sitanshu Kotak who came under the scanner While the world around him seemed worked up about the situation Kotak was always calm composed and gave honest answers Not once did he lay blame on Indiarsquos batters not even when India badly lost their only match against South Africa in Ahmedabad And it is his reassurance and the team managementrsquos continued faith in the Indian batting lineup mdash persisting with players even when the world around demanded that some be axed mdash that eventually led to a record third T20 World Cup title and first ever on home turfKotak tells midday how he dealt with Team Indiarsquos batting brigadeAbhishek Sharma PicsGetty Images AFP PTIOn Abhishek SharmahellipAbhishek Sharma was our biggest concern He was in blistering form coming into this World Cup and understandably there were high expectations from him Based on his pretournament form everyone expected India to get past the 200run mark in every match but what ultimately happens on the ground is not in anyonersquos hands Call it destiny or sheer bad luck but Abhishek was bogged down by a poor run We continued to have faith in him which he repaid with that fine innings 21ball 52 in the final We had to of course sort out some of his technical flaws and suggested to him not to hit the ball at the outset but to be judicious and depend on timing the ball Thatrsquos what he did in the final and came good If he had learnt the lesson earlier he would have had a few more big inningsSanju SamsonOn Sanju SamsonhellipI had some long chats with Sanju when he was out of the team initially I told him to be ready as someone could get injured or run out of form He was always kept ready to step in by giving him long stints in the nets We always knew that he had the potential and we also knew that one good innings would change things for him And thatrsquos exactly what happened Once Sanju got that solid knock against the West Indies 50ball 97 not out in Kolkata there was no stopping him He richly deserves that Player of the Tournament awardTilak VarmaOn Tilak VarmahellipWe knew Tilak could bat anywhere and could play big shots So we decided to use him lower down the order It worked out well as the team management wanted to spread out its lefthanded batters rather than have them clustered at the top Tilakrsquos cameos down the order came in handyShivam DubeOn Shivam DubehellipEveryone knows how powerful a hitter Shivam is We are lucky to have such a striker in our lineup who in a matter of a few balls can change the momentum of any match He performed that role very well and particularly in that final encounter against New Zealand eightball 26 not outIshan Kishan Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik PandyaOn senior batters Ishan Kishan Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik PandyahellipIshan Surya and Hardik are all extremely experienced campaigners Each of them knows their specific role very well Backed by the immense talent they possess Ishan Surya and Hardik are a huge asset to this Indian team Sometimes they come good sometimes they donrsquot but then cricket is a team game So the plan always was that if any particular batter fails another batter takes over the responsibility That has been the strength of this Indian team and this teamwork and collective performance is the reason that has helped us clinch this historic T20 World Cup title on home soil2564No of runs scored by India in the Super Eights against Zimbabwe mdash the most by any team in T20 World Cup in 18 years after Sri Lankarsquos 2606 against Kenya in 2007ThreeNo of 250plus totals for Team India in the 2026 T20 World Cup mdash the most by any team in a single edition106Total number of sixes smashed by India in the justconcluded T20 World Cup mdash the first team to cross the 100 mark in a single edition