India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has openly addressed two significant concerns as the team prepares for the Super 8 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Following India’s win over the Netherlands in their final league match, he admitted that while the side remains among the favourites, it has not yet delivered a flawless performance in the tournament.
Top-Order Predictability a Growing Concern
India’s top three features left-handers Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, a combination that has allowed rival teams to strategise effectively. Opponents have frequently introduced off-spinners during the powerplay to disrupt momentum early. Netherlands off-spinner Aryan Dutt, for instance, bowled three overs in the powerplay and dismissed both Sharma and Kishan.
Reflecting on this pattern, Doeschate conceded, “It has (made it easier for teams to plan against India). We don’t have many options (in the top three). We’ve got Sanju sitting on the side and we feel on balance, particularly with the games coming up, if we look at what finger spin is, we are going to come up against New Zealand. We’ve got a few guys who bowl finger spin and so do the West Indies and so does South Africa if you include Markram. But on balance, we still feel that these are our best batters and we’re going to make do with the abundance of left-handers,” said Doeschate.
Struggles Against Finger Spin
Doeschate clarified that the issue is not restricted to off-spin alone but extends to finger spin in general. “I wouldn’t say off spin, I’d say finger spin,” said the assistance coach about the areas of improvement going into the next phase of the ICC event. He pointed to Pakistan’s effective use of spin, stating, “If you take the combined, I think Pakistan bowled 14 overs of finger spin in the last game and off the top of my head I want to say something like 4 for 78 or something like that. So it’s not great numbers. “
“Colombo was a particularly difficult wicket and I think the numbers tonight got sort of improved towards the back end. But again, Aryan Dutt bowling four overs, it is a big challenge. I think these two venues in particular with the bigger boundary here (Ahmedabad) and obviously a slower wicket in Colombo sort of does exaggerate that.”
“But it’s something we’re going to have to focus on, like I said, with the amount of finger spin we’re going to get in the next three games,” said Doeschate. He further added, “I think on better wickets you won’t see it (batters struggling against spin). You can hit through the line with more confidence, but the point is that we need to have plans where the wickets do hold and the boundaries are there. We need to be able to have a game plan to deal with that threat,” said Doeschate.
Opposition Tactics And Faith In Sharma
The Netherlands had clearly studied India’s weakness. As Bas de Leede explained, “We obviously looked at the Pakistan game and saw that they’d struggled with spin. So we had a focus of – in the power play bowling spin, trying to limit their scoring options. I think their spinners bowled really well to stop them from getting off to good starts, so credit to the.”
Despite Abhishek Sharma’s three consecutive ducks and a recent hospitalisation due to a stomach infection, Doeschate remains confident. “He batted really well last night in the nets (on the eve of Netherlands game). He spent 90 minutes batting. I think we’ve also got to give him a bit of space. He came into the prep phase not feeling well, obviously spent a few days in hospital and then missed the game. So it’s been a very disjointed competition for him so far. But I saw some really good signs last night with his ball striking and instead of a hound in my heart, absolutely no worries about him. He’ll be fine for the second phase,” added the assistant coach.
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