India cricket team batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has rubbished rumours of an alleged rift between head coach Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli amid the ongoing ENG vs IND ODI series. His remarks came after reports of an alleged communication gap between the two started doing rounds as visuals of India’s practice session before the 1st ODI showed the duo seemingly avoiding each other. Quashing the rumour, Kotak noted that Kohli needed no bridge while pointing out that the duo spoke at least 10 times on the day of the 2nd ODI.
Rumours of rift between Gambhir, Kohli quashed
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Kotak spilled the beans on his conversation with Kohli during the practice session in Birmingham, revealing that the discussion involved talking about footwork among other things. The former Indian captain was seen consulting Kotak for a long period of time during the nets session while he made no contact with Gambhir, fuelling speculations of a rift. However, the bating coach categorically denied any such developments, noting that he had no idea where these rumours emerged from.
“Virat and Gautam, they must have talked 10 times today. I don’t think he needs a bridge. Virat, basically, before going into batting, talked about certain things. Honestly, as a batting coach, till the time he doesn’t feel anything or he doesn’t see anything, his batting shouldn’t be disturbed. You shouldn’t say much because of the way he bats. Mainly, about how his footwork was going and certain things, he asked me before. Then after the nets, we were talking. Apart from that, what you’re saying, I don’t know where the rumours come from, but they do come,” Kotak said
This isn’t the first time that reports of an alleged rift between Kohli and Gambhir is doing the rounds. In fact, it has been a topic of discussion ever since Gambhir took over the reins as the head coach of the team.
After failing to fire in the ENG vs IND 2nd ODI, Virat Kohli impressed in the following game with a 65-run knock, albeit in a losing cause ultimately. Regardless, he has been one of India’s most consistent batter in the 50-over format in the past one year.
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