Ahmedabad, February 19 – India's assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, has acknowledged two key challenges facing the team as they head into the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup: the predictability of the left-handed top order and the batters' struggles against finger spinners.
Speaking to the media after India's victory over the Netherlands in their final league match, Doeschate said that the top contenders haven't played a perfect game yet.
He also noted that India's top three, consisting of left-handers like Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Tilak Varma, have made it easier for opposing teams to strategize against them.
Rival teams have been using off-spinners in the powerplay to contain the top order, particularly Sharma, who has struggled to score runs in the tournament so far despite a strong performance recently.
Netherlands off-spinner Aryan Dutt bowled three overs in the powerplay on Wednesday and dismissed Sharma and Kishan.
Doeschate believes that India doesn't necessarily have an off-spin problem, but rather that the overall strategy against finger spinners needs improvement. The home team will need to find a way to deal with finger spinners in their Super 8 matches against South Africa, Zimbabwe, and West Indies.
"It has made it easier for teams to plan against India. We don't have many options in the top three. We have Sanju sitting on the bench, and we feel that, considering the upcoming matches, if we look at the finger spin, we will be facing New Zealand," he said.
"We have a few players who bowl finger spin, and so do the West Indies and South Africa (if you include Markram). However, overall, we still feel that these are our best batters, and we will manage with the abundance of left-handers," Doeschate added.
The responsibility lies with the batters to find a way to succeed.
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus had successfully used round-arm off-spin against the Indian batters in Delhi, and Pakistan's Usman Tariq, Salman Agha, and Saim Ayub put the arch-rivals under pressure in Colombo.
Doeschate said that batters need to find a way to counter finger spinners when the ball is holding a bit.
"I wouldn't say off-spin; I would say finger spin," the assistant coach said, referring to the areas of improvement for the next phase of the ICC event.
"If we combine the numbers, I think Pakistan bowled 14 overs of finger spin in the last match, and if I recall correctly, they had something like 4 for 78. So, these are not bad numbers.
"Colombo was a particularly difficult wicket, and I think the numbers tonight improved towards the end. However, Aryan Dutt bowling four overs is a significant challenge.
"I think these two venues, particularly Ahmedabad with its larger boundary and Colombo with its slower wicket, exacerbate this. But we need to focus on this, as I said, with the amount of finger spin we will face in the next three games," Doeschate said.
India will play South Africa in their Super 8 opener here on Sunday.
"I think on better wickets, batters won't struggle against spin. They can hit through the line with more confidence, but the key is that we need a plan where the wickets hold and the boundaries are there.
"We need to be able to have a game plan to deal with this threat," Doeschate said.
Even the Netherlands had planned to choke India with spin in the powerplay after seeing their struggles against Pakistan.
"We obviously looked at the Pakistan game and saw that they struggled with spin. So, we focused on bowling spin in the powerplay, trying to limit their scoring options. I think their spinners bowled really well to prevent them from getting off to good starts, so credit to them," said Bas de Leede.
Abhishek Sharma batted well in the nets.
Despite three consecutive ducks, Doeschate is not worried about Sharma's form. The left-hander missed the Namibia game due to a stomach infection that required hospitalization. He was dismissed by Salman Agha and Aryan Dutt in the last two matches.
"He batted really well last night in the nets (on the eve of the Netherlands game). He batted for 90 minutes. I think we also need to give him some space. He came into the preparation phase not feeling well, obviously spent a few days in the hospital, and then missed the game.
"So, it has been a very disjointed experience for him so far. But I saw some really good signs last night with his ball striking, and I have no worries about him. He will be fine for the second phase," added the assistant coach.
