Ryan ten Doeschate opens up his unexpected Indian batting problem

One of the new assistant coaches of the Indian men’s national cricket team, Ryan ten Doeschate, revealed that he wasn’t expecting the Indian batters’ problem against the spinners. 

The former Netherlands’ star allrounder, Ryan ten Doeschate, has recently joined the Indian men’s national cricket team, where Gautam Gambhir is the head coach. Apart from ten Doeschate, Abhishek Nayar is also an assistant coach of the present Indian team. 

Recently, ten Doeschate has accepted Indian batters' issue against the spinners.

The former Dutch star said on TalkSport Cricket, "One of the challenges I wasn't expecting and I kind of overlooked is the playing of spin by Indian batters. We got undone in Sri Lanka."

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Why is the Indian team underperforming against spinners?

During the recently concluded India tour of Sri Lanka, India lost 27 wickets to spin in the three-match ODI series. Ten Doeschate feels that the present issue has emerged due to India’s strong focus on doing well overseas.

Ten Doeschate said, "The mindset of India has been such that they've been so desperate to do well overseas. The focus has moved to doing well in Australia, England that we've kind of let playing spin, which was always a strength of the Indian team, fall back a little bit. That's one thing I'm looking forward to helping with, getting to that position where Indians are the best players of spin in the world again."

Ten Doeschate believes that his job requires more on the right preparation than technical. 

The former Dutch all-rounder added, "I don't think much of what we're going to bring is technical knowledge to these guys. It's more about mindsets, situational awareness, how we think they can control certain phases of the game. Throwing ideas out there, de-briefing and keeping the mental space really good. That's going to be really important."

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Ryan ten Doeschate talked about India's upcoming goals

Talking about Team India’s next targets, ten Doeschate has revealed the team’s goals in different terms. He claimed that India want to qualify for the next ICC World Test Championship final. 

Ten Doeschate claimed, "It's exciting and kind of daunting at the same time. In terms of what we're looking forward to, qualifying for the WTC final. There's a great opportunity with 10 Tests left, five in India and then going to Australia is going to be great.”

India played in the first two ICC World Test Championship finals but suffered losses against New Zealand and Australia, respectively. 

The Indian team also focuses on the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. However, before this ICC tournament, the Indian team could only play three ODIs. 

Ten Doeschate added, "Then in the medium term there's the Champions Trophy. With only three ODIs left in the prep phase, it's going to be really challenging to switch between the formats and get the team ready for that, which again is something they're desperate to win.”

In the next ICC World Test Championship cycle (2025-2027), India will tour England for a five-match Test series. The England tour is another goal for Team India. The Indian team also has a target for the next ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.  

Ten Doeschate said, "Then in the next (WTC) cycle, the tour to England is going to be fantastic, and then prepping the team for the T20 World Cup. In terms of timing, it's quite difficult to walk into a team that's just come back with the World Cup, but in terms of what's ahead for the next 18 months, it's mouth-watering as a coach. It's all the series you want to be involved in and all the challenges you want to come up against."

India will host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 along with Sri Lanka. India will compete in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 as the defending champions.