IND vs NED T20 World Cup 2026: Ryan Ten Doeschate, who is India's assistant coach, has admitted that there are two major issues which the team might face during the Super 8s of the ongoing mega event-the predictability of the left-handed top-order batter and the batters' struggle against finger spinners. In the post-match press conference, Doeschate emphasised that the hosts haven't played a perfect match yet.
Since India's top-order consists of left-handers like Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Ishan Kishan, he also talked about how it has become easier for the opponents to play against them.
The opponents have been using off-spinners in their bowling attack during the powerplay to restrict India's top order from scoring runs, like Sharma, who hasn't scored a single run till now despite being in sublime form before this tournament.
The Dutch off-spinner Aaryan Dutt had bowled three overs during the powerplay, where he dismissed both Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma.
Doeschate opined that the Suryakumar Yadav-led side doesn't really struggle against off-spin, but it's facing the finger spinner that they really need to work on. They will have to come up with a solution for playing against the finger spinners during the Super 8 stages against teams like South Africa, West Indies, and Zimbabwe.
"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," Doeschate told reporters during the pre-match press conference.
"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," he added.
Onus on batters to find a way
Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus had given the Indian batters a hard time with his round-arm off-spin, and then Pakistan's Usman Tariq, Salman Agha, and Saim Ayub had piled pressure on arch-rivals India in Colombo.
Doeschate is of the view that the Indian batters will have to find a way of facing finger spinners.
"I wouldn't say off spin, I'd say finger spin," he said.
"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 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," he added.
India will lock horns with South Africa during their first Super 8 match later this week.
"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," he added.
The Netherlands, too, had tried to skittle the host out during the powerplay by using their spinners as they were seen struggling against Pakistan spinners.
"We obviously looked at the Pakistan game and saw that they'd struggled with spin. So we had a focus on 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," Bas de Leede told reporters in the post-match press conference.
Abhishek Sharma is batting well in the nets
Even after getting out on a duck thrice, Doeschate isn't worried about Abhishek Sharma's form. The star opener missed the match against Namibia due to a stomach infection. But he was dismissed on a duck by off-spinners Salman Agha and Aryan Dutt during the next two matches.
"He batted really well last night in the nets (on the eve of the 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 the 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," Doeschate concluded.