A couple of his personal innings could be citations for a PowerPoint programme on patience - 168* off 543 balls in 13 hours and 16 minutes, and 96* off 410 balls in nine hours and 51 minutes (a strike rate of 23). Today he has presided over a collective Indian strike rate of 165.38, the best for any top seven in a T20 World Cup edition, with Sanju Samson, India's batting hero, striking at a staggering 199.37.

The paradox there is surely mystifying, almost incomprehensible, but his evolution as a batting coach is remarkable. It is like a Hindustani classical music teacher conducting a tutorial on Pop-Rap or Hip-Hop. But it is unlikely anyone in India will complain. Sitanshu Kotak today is a modern-day batting guru and could easily conduct private classes with a tagline: Learn high-octane, crash-bang T20 cricket in one week.

The Indian team scored close to 1000 runs in their last four games in the T20 World Cup. That is a strike rate of more than 12 runs (12.40) per over. Ask Kotak, the answer is that the philosophy of the Indian team's batting was not to go for a six from the first ball. It was fearless yet methodical too.

"Our thinking was to go hard from ball one. Even if we lost a couple of wickets, we would not slow down. What we would do instead is, for the next six to eight balls, play shots with a lower risk percentage. So the idea was to keep attacking but sensibly," the India batting coach tells Cricbuzz in an exclusive interview.

He explains how Sanju Samson, who missed four of the first five games, emerged as the hero and stamped his authority in the last four. It was to prevent the opposition from exploiting India's left-left-left Top 3. "We realised that against off-spin we had three left-handers at the top because Tilak was batting at No. 3. But after a point there's no point being stubborn.

"We had four games where we lost a wicket in the first over, and that was the moment when we started thinking differently. Sometimes you can also say it is God's plan. In a way, it worked like that for us because it made us think that we had to utilise Sanju. Rinku was not getting many opportunities at No. 8. At the start we also needed to break that left-left-left combination. That is how Sanju came back into the picture."

Abhishek Sharma's form was a challenge and Kotak reveals how the problem was addressed. "At one point I felt he was trying to hit the ball too hard. That is not really his strength. Players like Shivam and Hardik can muscle the ball out of the park. But Abhishek is more about timing. If you see his sixes, they come from his natural flow and timing. So we tried to make small adjustments. Tactically we discussed how bowlers were targeting certain areas. Gautam also suggested that he use the crease more - step outside the off stump so he is a little closer to the ball."

He also dwelt on the batting philosophy which was not to lose too many wickets in the PowerPlay and if it so happened, then the plan was to play low-risk shots. "If we did not lose more than two wickets in the PowerPlay, we would always go at over 10 runs an over from the start. The only real worry for us was what if we lost three or four wickets in three or four overs.

"So our thinking was to go hard from ball one. Even if we lost a couple of wickets, we would not slow down or change our intent. What we would do instead is, for the next six to eight balls, play shots with a lower risk percentage. So the idea was to keep attacking, but if two wickets fell in very quick succession, we would ensure that the next six to eight balls were about batting sensibly and building a partnership again.

He also gave credit to the skipper and coach for keeping the environment light. "A lot of credit goes to Surya for maintaining such a friendly and positive environment. Gautam was also absolutely brilliant. He never said anything that would put Abhishek under pressure, and he never put Sanju under pressure either."

The batting coach also explains whether the high-risk-high-reward approach will work in SENA countries. "I believe that the high-risk, high-reward approach in T20 cricket will always work. The key is assessing the conditions properly. That is why the responsibility of the top two or three batsmen is very important. They go out first, assess how the pitch is playing, and then quickly pass the message back to the dressing room so that everyone can adjust accordingly."

There is always this danger of the Indian template being copied by other teams. Kotak says the Indian team believes in creating its own style rather than copying someone else's.

The full interview with Sitanshu Kotak will be published tomorrow