Newly appointed India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has said his side’s ability to play spin has been on a decline, and his focus is to revive their traditional strength.
Ten Doeschate recently joined the new India head coach Gautam Gambhir among his new group of coaching staff. In his first assignment with India in Sri Lanka, the team succumbed to a rare 0-2 ODI defeat, in which the first match controversially ended in a tie.
The former Netherlands allrounder addressed the loss, saying India were not up to the mark against spin, echoing what captain Rohit Sharma said after the match.
"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," Ten Doeschate said to TalkSport Cricket.
He added: "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 [so] 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."
Tearaway pacer Mayank Yadav lit up IPL 2024 with his electrifying spells. However, a mid-season injury ruled him out for several months of cricket action.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 21, 2024
Here’s all you need to know about the latest updates on the speedster ➡️ https://t.co/W75CkyO9BB pic.twitter.com/UrHo113Gyx
India created an unwanted record in Sri Lanka
Traditionally recognised as possessing good players of spin, India lost 27 wickets in the ODIs in the Island nation, the most any team has ever lost to that kind of bowling in a three-match series. Ten Doeschate feels India’s priority to strengthen their game against pace and swing in ‘SENA’ nations has led to their skills against tweakers taking a back seat. And that's where he's ready to put in the hard yards to make India "the best players of spin in the world again".
"The mindset of India has been such that they've been so desperate to do well overseas," Ten Doeschate said. "The focus has moved to doing well in Australia, England [so] 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."
Abhishek Nayar is another assistant coach who has joined India’s think tank, while Morne Morkel’s addition as the country’s bowling coach recently is the latest addition to the group. Sairaj Bahutule served as the interim bowling coach in Sri Lanka.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
