Ryan ten Doeschate ponders on abundance of bowling options, reflects on "eye-opening" experience with Indian players

Oct 11, 2024

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], October 11 : Assistant coach of Team India, Ryan ten Doeschate emphasised the importance of finding "balance" given the current state of the abundance of bowling options that India have had in the first two T20Is against Bangladesh.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav has had the opportunity to put seven bowlers to use, which has played its part in the hosts solidifying their supremacy.
Against a sturdy Bangladesh side, India have had the opportunity to use four pacers and three spinners apart from Suryakumar and Rinku Singh. The 34-year-old skipper has enjoyed the headache of using his bowlers to get maximum benefits.
Ryan ten Doeschate outlined the rarity of enjoying a rare opportunity to have plenty of bowlers in the playing XI but remains wary of the consequence of having too many of them.
"What I said about balance, it's so important. You get to the position where you don't want too many bowlers, but with the way the batting's been going, you could say the same for the batting. So it does give us the chance to pick another specialist bowler when one is available when we think the difference is big enough to do that," Ryan said in the pre-match press conference on the eve of the final T20I against Bangladesh.
"But it gives the captain so many options, and you see the way the game's going. It's very rare that all five bowlers, or even six bowlers, are going to go well on the day, so it's nice to have an option. Ideally, you want them to bowl a little bit more, but someone like Hardik not bowling in the last game is just a testament to the depth in the bowling team," he added.
Ryan has had a strong relationship with head coach Gautam Gambhir even before he took up the assistant coach role. Gambhir has always been vocal about the admiration he has for Ryan.
With the bond that the duo share between them, the new era of India has kickstarted with a mix of subtleness and aggression.
The 44-year-old opened up about the new phase of his life and the opportunity to work with a talented pool of players in close proximity after witnessing their potential on a television screen.
"It's been great. I think getting a real close-up look at how good these guys are has been eye-opening. You see them on TV and you see them perform their franchises but to be so close and working with them and see the quality they possess but also their understanding of the purpose of what they're doing has been pleasing to see," he said.
"That's from all the experienced older guys in the team all the way through to the young guys who come in and know what the system's about. It's been really good and obviously, it's quite a big task to make sure that we're harnessing this talent all the time. It's non-stop. Every single game you're trying to get the best out of the players and that's a very enjoyable challenge," he noted.