Hyderabad: Speaking ahead of the third and final T20I against Bangladesh, current India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate gave insights into how Gautam Gambhir-led team management aims to build a strong core of players for crunch moments in the next 18 months and prepare them for the next T20 World Cup in 2026, which will be held in India.
Ryan ten Doeschate, who has played international cricket for the Netherlands, joined the Indian cricket team as an assistant coach before India's tour to Sri Lanka a few months ago.
Bangladesh Tour of India 2024
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India 🆚 Bangladesh | 3rd T20i
12 October, 2024 | Hyderabad | 07:30 PM (BST)
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While addressing the media ahead of India vs Bangladesh 3rd T20I here, Doeschate said, "We want guys to expand their own game, we want to move cricket forward like it is going at the time, and we want to be prepared for the big crunch moments that are coming up in the next 18 months."
In effect, he indicated that Samson would likely get another chance to prove his worth in the third T20I. "We try to expose as many guys as we can to international experience. We want to give Sanju another chance, so there are options, and certainly, the plan originally was to win the series, and then try a few new faces for the last game," he added.
In this period, India will play several marquee events including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against Australia in November, next year's ICC Champions Trophy and a possible appearance in the World Test Championship Final in June.
"Yes, we want to build a strong core of players. With the Champions Trophy, Asia Cup (2025) and the World Cup (T20 WC 2026) coming up, we want to know where everyone stands in Indian cricket, and it's good to see the depth that we have," Deschate, who has played 24 T20Is for the Dutchs, said.
The former all-rounder emphasised assigning multiple roles for players like Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Riyan Parag and Washington Sunder to bring out the most of it.
"There are guys who can fill multiple roles which are so important for balance depending on where we play. You look at someone like Riyan (Parag) who hasn't batted much in this series. We've seen someone (Nitish Kumar Reddy) who can bat at 4-5 as well as being a finisher. So, it's trying to fit as many of those pieces together as we can in these bilateral series, he added.
