Sitanshu Kotak Says Teams Need Aggressive Players Like Rishabh Pant

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July 9, 2025 0 575

Sitanshu Kotak opined that Rishabh Pant’s attacking style is important for breaking the opposition and helps the team win matches when it works.

Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant earned high praise from India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak after their standout performances in the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. India responded back strongly at Edgbaston, defeating England to level the series 1-1.

Skipper Gill scored a double-century in the first innings and followed it up with 161 in the second. Pant, who had hit twin centuries in the first Test, continued to impact the game with his aggressive batting.

Kotak highlighted the value of having fearless players like Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal, whose aggressive intent can disrupt opposition plans. He noted that such players often make the difference in high-pressure situations.

“Every team will have some aggressive players who are very good at breaking the opposition’s momentum. So, someone like Jaiswal, who plays the way he plays; someone like Rishabh,” Kotak said during India’s practice session.

“But that does not mean that he doesn’t think. He does think, he does take decisions and when it goes wrong, it looks bad. But when it goes right, people are happy saying, ‘Oh, what an entertaining innings that was.’ So any team, I would think that would have a couple of players who are a little different in a batting lineup than others,” he continued.

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“Rishabh actually talks a lot about what he does with the bat, when he does, why he does it with me. He is someone who doesn’t like talking too much during his innings because he feels that that changes his mindset, and he makes the wrong decision. I don’t think anything has changed because he(Shubman) is a captain. His mindset has shifted a bit and there are definitely technical changes, which I saw in Australia, series in India, and during our initial practice match here,” the coach added.

Kotak Warns of Lord’s Greener Pitch

Kotak then shared that the pitch at Lord’s is greener than in previous Tests and is expected to favour fast bowlers. He added that batters will need to spend time at the crease to settle in.

“The wicket is a bit greener than what we saw in the last two games. However, we can only talk after they do the last cutting before the match. And generally, at Lord’s, the scores of the first and second innings are comparatively low. So, we can expect that it will be helpful for bowlers. For batters, spending time on the wickets is the best friend you can have. The more time you spend on the wicket, the more you will adjust to it,” Sitanshu Kotak concluded.

Historically, Lord’s has seen low scores in the first two innings. With the series tied 1-1, conditions at Lord’s could play a role in deciding the winner of the third Test starting July 10.