Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak predicts that the Lord's pitch will be more challenging than the flat pitches of the first two matches. However, he believes that if the batsmen avoid unnecessary shots, then it will not be difficult to score big.
The pitch taken two days before the match had a lot of grass, which can be removed a little a day before. Kotak said that such wickets are difficult for the batsmen, but spending time is the biggest key. In his opinion, if the batsmen have patience and try to stay on the wicket, then they can understand the conditions of the wicket.
He said,
"One should keep in mind that catches will not be dropped sometimes on this wicket like they happened in Headingley."
He clarified that when the wicket is challenging, one should not prepare to attack but play intelligently.
While Kotak said this, he also described the possible return of Jofra Archer as challenging. If England gives a slightly difficult pitch, then it will be just right.
Kotak said,
“If you bat well, there is no problem. But when the challenge comes, you have to accept it.”
He called the clash a breach of the “hawk-ball” strategy—where bowlers are likely to get some help on a normal wicket. According to him, if batsmen try to hit the wrong shot on the wicket in a hurry—like ‘go and hit a boundary because there won’t be time to get a good ball’—then ’they are putting their own batting at risk.
Kotak defines an “undue shot” as one in which the batsman is thinking in his mind that he has to hit a boundary or the wicket might fall on the next ball. He instead believes that if players learn the art of spending time on the wicket, their shots will turn into boundaries on their own.
He puts players like Rishabh Pant in a special category—those who are prone to sudden momentum changes, but their thinking remains active. Pant talks to himself while batting, but talking too much can distract him.
Regarding the sloping pitch of Lord's, Kotak said that some players get upset initially, but if their mind is right, then it is not a big problem. The batsman has to understand the seam as well as the variation of the wicket.
In his discussion, special attention was also paid to the brilliant batting of Captain Shubman Gill. He has scored 585 runs in the last four innings. Kotak said that along with small changes in Gill's technique, the biggest change happened at the mental level.
Gill now bats with the thought of giving time to the pitch so that he turns loose balls into boundaries. "These changes are more mental than technical," Kotak said. This mental strength has helped Gill score big runs in 150-140 balls.