Published: Nov 20, 2025, 04:13 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 20, 2025, 04:13 PM (IST)
Team India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak defended head coach of the team Gautam Gambhir after the bad loss against South Africa in the first match of the test series in Kolkata.
However, many fans and supporters are criticizing head coach Gautam Gambhir as they think Gambhir was the reason behind India’s loss. Sitanshu Kotak came in his support and said that it’s not just his fault. He further said that both the players and staff are equally responsible for the defeat.
“Everyone is talking about Gautam Gambhir. No one is saying that the batsmen, the bowlers or the support staff could have done things differently,” Kotak said during a press conference on Thursday.
However, Sitanshu Kotak also defended the chief curators at Eden Gardens over the controversial criticism of the pitch. He even said that the management didn’t expect the ball to grip that much on the second day.
“When we play a Test at home or travel abroad, every home team plays to its strengths. Ever since I became the batting coach, we have opted for spin-friendly tracks in India. We always hoped that a match goes on four days at least, and the ball should turn a bit since spin is our strength. In the last match, as well all saw, the pitch was a dusty and was also crumbling a bit. That was unexpected. We thought that the spinners would come into play properly from the third day. Even the curators didn’t expect that. Seeing that much turn on the second day is not normal. It probably happened because the top layer was dry and the pitch underneath was hard since it was rolled a lot,” he added.
