India suffered a chastening 76-run loss at the hands of South Africa in their opening Super 8 clash of the T20 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. After the loss, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate hinted at Sanju Samson’s inclusion in the playing XI to avoid facing off-spinners in the first over of the innings.
He was pretty straightforward in his assessment of the game while admitting that the Indian team made a lot of mistakes in the massive game. When asked about Samson’s inclusion, Doeschate hinted at taking a call on it later but didn’t deny the possibility, given the fact that the likes of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma’s form has become a worry for the hosts now.
Notably, Tilak has struggled immensely in the middle overs despite the fact that he scored 106 runs in the first four matches before getting out for one run against South Africa. As for Abhishek, he bagged three ducks before scoring 15 runs in today’s game. “Four teams have opened up with part time off-spinners. It hasn’t gone our way. Do we stick with players who have done well in the last 18 months or do we get Sanju in? That’s a call we will take,” Doeschate said in the post-match press conference.
“I don’t want to make excuses for Abhishek or Tilak.. Abhi had a food poison. When you score 3 zeroes, it will obviously weight in. He looks short, and it is our job to make him get things right again. There’s no point talking about rhythm in nets and all that, it is time to perform,” he added further.
Why was Axar Patel benched and Sundar played?
Ryan ten Doeschate also revealed the reason why Washington Sundar played ahead of vice-captain Axar Patel. As per the Indian team’s analysis, Quinton de Kock, David Miller and Ryan Rickelton were the biggest threats in the match and that was the reason Sundar was selected.
“We spent so much time deliberating about the XI. We were looking at matchups in the middle. But we felt we needed Rinku and that’s why we made the decision. It doesn’t take away anything from Axar as far his quality and leadership is concerned. We know what Washi has done. It played a big part in the strategy tonight. Looking at the balance, and left handers, it was between Washi and Axar and we chose Washi tonight.
“As per our analysis, the biggest threat was Quinton de Kock, David Miller and Ryan Rickleton and that’s why Washi was picked for the middle overs. We tried to best XI. If Axar played today, he would have batted in the same position as Washi,” Doeschate said.
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