Not concerned about Rohit’s form, says Kotak

India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak not worried about Rohit Sharma's form in ODI cricket, confident in team's performance.

Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak was not concerned about captain Rohit Sharma’s form in ODI cricket ahead of India’s second ODI against England at the Barabati Stadium, here on Sunday.

While downplaying Rohit’s poor form in red-ball cricket, Kotak cited the skipper’s statistics in the 50-over format to underline his point.

“I don’t think there is any problem. In the last three one-dayers (before the series opener in Nagpur where he scored two), Rohit made 56, 64 and 35 (against Sri Lanka), averaging 50-plus. We are talking about a player who has got 31 ODI hundreds. When he keeps scoring runs in back-to-back matches, nobody asks ‘When will he fail?’” said Kotak on Saturday.

“I don’t think I would be worried about their forms. Australia Test series -- that was a tough time. About the one-dayers, the way he batted in the last three one-days before the first match (in Nagpur), he has always been scoring runs. So, not really so much concern about that.”

On Virat Kohli who missed the first match due to a knee issue, Kotak said: “Kohli is fit. He is good to go. He is here and training with us.”

The batting coach did not give too much importance to India losing two wickets early in Nagpur.

“(Shubman) Gill, Shreyas (Iyer) and Axar (Patel) batted really well. You are going to lose some wickets, whether it’s openers or middle-order. As a batting unit or as a team, there were a lot of positives – the way we batted, the way we showed our intent.”