Sanju probably has not scored many runs, but our job is to keep him in good frame of mind: Kotak

So, these five games, and obviously, before that South Africa series is also very useful for us. Kishan likely for 5th T20I Kotak said Ishan Kishan, who missed the fourth T20I with an unspecified injury, is likely to play Saturdays match. But in T20s, somebody scores 60, 70, and we think he played a good inning.

India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak on Friday acknowledged that Sanju Samson has been going through a lean phase without doubting the quality of the struggling batter, and reiterated the team management's support for him. Samson has failed to get going in the ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand, amassing just 40 runs from four matches at an average of 10. ''Sanju is a senior player, he is very good. He probably has not scored as many runs as everybody would like, but that's part of the cricketing career. Sometimes you have five innings in a row where you score so many runs and sometimes you have a little tight period,'' Kotak told the media on the eve of the final T20I. Kotak said the team's think tank is right behind Samson in this tough period. ''It's all up to an individual how to keep his mind strong and, obviously, our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind. He is practicing and he is working hard, so we all know what Sanju is capable of. I don't think anything more to say about Sanju because he has been really good,'' he added. Samson sweats it out nets ================== True to Kotak's words, Samson was seen sweating it out at nets here at the Greenfield Stadium for nearly 30 minutes. The right-hander started the session, facing side-armers Hari and Raghu before having a few hits against left-arm spinner Axar Patel. After that, he took a break from the nets to have a quick chat with head coach Gautam Gambhir and bowling coach Morne Morkel. If Samson appears in the match on Saturday, it will be his maiden international match at his home venue. Excellent WC preparation =================== Kotak opined that the ongoing white-ball series against the Kiwis and the preceding one against South Africa have been wonderful opportunities for India to prepare for the T20 World Cup. ''It's been a very important series for us. It is obviously useful because before the World Cup you kind of start getting into a rhythm, you start finding the combinations and you try and give players an opportunity,'' he said. ''All that you can do when we are playing. So, these five games, and obviously, before that South Africa (series) is also very useful for us.'' Kishan likely for 5th T20I =================== Kotak said Ishan Kishan, who missed the fourth T20I with an unspecified injury, is likely to play Saturday's match. ''Ishan Kishan has always been good whenever he got an opportunity. Sometimes wicketkeeper batters don't get opportunities. But whenever Ishan has played, he has always done well. The way he played two innings was really encouraging because in power play, you are looking for someone to play the way he played,'' he said. ''And very likely (he will play), at the moment, as far as I know. The physio is here for practice. So, physios will take a call. But I feel very likely.'' The Saurashtra batting stalwart said the presence of aggressive batters such as Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek Sharma has helped the team to follow an aggressive batting line in this series. ''Some of the players are aggressive and what we plan… we go sorting through that and depending on wickets in hand and the situation, and whether we are chasing or posting, it will help us. ''But fortunately we have players, who can play very aggressively and there have been such good players in India as well, so that's a great thing,'' he added. Kotak then gave an insight into the batting of Abhishek who has been batting exclusively on top-gear in this series. ''Obviously, it is his plans, what he wants to do. But we definitely discuss what pace to bowl and what areas to bowl (at nets), and what would be the better shot if it doesn't go fine. But he is a very clever player, definitely he does think.'' Kotak said the biggest strength of Abhishek was his strong basics. ''He does speak to Gautam, he does speak to me and Surya and some other players also. So, he is very open to everything. He is someone who plays a lot of shots. But his shots don't seem like somebody is slogging. ''It seems like he is playing more on merit of the ball and has strong basics. So for me, I feel it's very important when you are an aggressive batsman,'' he noted. The 53-year-old was also delighted to see skipper Suryakumar break a barren run with back-to-back fifties. ''For a long time, he has been T20's best batsman, number one batsman. So, we always knew that he would score runs. But in T20s, somebody scores 60, 70, and we think he played a good inning. ''For us, if somebody scores 25, it may be more important than those 60 runs. So, he, obviously, had some impactful innings in different matches. But consistently, the way he scored runs before, that was something we all were waiting for. ''There will be a dry patch in T20s and you still have to go hard, you still have to play for the team, which is what he did. So glad that he got a good two innings, that's a good sign for the team anyway.''

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