Rishabh Pant flashy style of play was credited by Kotak, who emphasised the value of having players who can change the tide and shift momentum in high-pressure situations. Gill’s dominant double-century in the first innings and an incredible 161 in the second helped India set a daunting mark of 608 runs for England.
Captain Shubman Gill and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant were praised by Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak for their crucial roles in India’s decisive victory over England in the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 at Edgbaston. Even though Pant scored twin hundreds in the first Test match at Headingley, the result represented a significant turnaround for India.
There will be aggressive players on every team who excel in halting the momentum of the opposition. During India’s practice session, Kotak stated, “So, someone like Jaiswal, who plays the way he plays; someone like Rishabh,” as reported by The Indian Express.
However, that does not imply that he is not thinking. He makes judgements and thinks things through, and it looks horrible when they don’t work out. However, when things go well, people are pleased and remark, “Oh, what an entertaining innings that was.” Therefore, I would assume that any team will have a few individuals that are slightly different from the others in their batting lineup,” he continued.
Kotak rejected the idea that Pant is just an in-the-moment player, a description that is frequently applied to him because of his daring shot choices. He underlined that Rishabh Pant strategy is not just intuitive but also strategic and effective.
With 342 runs, Rishabh Pant is now the third-highest run scorer in the series.
In fact, Rishabh Pant spends a lot of time discussing his bat techniques, when he uses them, and why he uses them with me. He dislikes chatting much during his innings because he believes it alters his perspective and causes him to make poor choices, Kotak stated.
Since he is a captain, I don’t believe anything has changed. Regarding Gill, Kotak stated, “I saw in Australia, series in India, and during our first practice match here that his mindset has changed a little and there are definitely technical changes.”
Kotak acknowledged that the Lord’s pitch is greener than the ones used for the first two Test matches, which could help the pacers. “Batters will need to spend time at the crease and build their innings with patience, but bowlers can expect some help from the conditions,” he said.
“Compared to the previous two games, the wicket is a little greener. But only after they do the final cutting before the game can we have a conversation. Additionally, the first and second innings scores at Lord’s are typically somewhat low. Therefore, we can anticipate that bowlers will benefit from it. The finest buddy a batter can have is time spent on the wickets. You will get used to it more the more time you spend on the wicket,” Kotak said.