Ten Doeschate also gave update on Siraj's fitness and switching mindset from T20s to Tests.
Team India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has stated that the team management will decide on the selection of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after assessing their fitness. His words came on June 4, 2026, in the pre-match presser before the one-off Test between India and Afghanistan in New Chandigarh.
The one-off Test will be followed by three ODIs, to be played from June 13 to 20 in Dharamshala, Lucknow, and Chennai.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been named in the India squad for the ODI series, but Sharma’s inclusion is subject to fitness. Rohit suffered a hamstring injury during the IPL 2026 and missed quite a few games for the Mumbai Indians.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli suffered a hamstring pull while batting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the final of the IPL 2026 against the Gujarat Titans. Kohli made 75* to lead RCB to the IPL 2026 title, their second successive IPL win in two years.
“Official communication will come on that. You know, it’s obviously big news when it’s someone like Virat or Rohit, but the same protocols will be in place where we’ll assess the fitness of those guys, and we’ve got a few days now to decide whether they are fit enough to play and be part of the squad and make adjustments accordingly. But I’m sure some official communication will come through as soon as the medical team has confirmed,” Ten Doeschate stated in the press conference, as quoted by RevSportz.
Doeschate also discussed the team's tactical change and the particular difficulties of switching from a T20 mentality to conventional red-ball grit.
“The IPL time cycle is so different from a Test match, as required. The guys have had three days to do it,t and obviously an early training session yesterday. Guys have taken it upon themselves to be up early. I’ve seen a lot of guys around the breakfast room in the last couple of days. You know, everyone’s scheduled some gym stuff early morning just to force guys to get up and adjust the time slot. These guys are good professionals. They know what’s required, and they’ll be adjusting to make sure they’re ready for Saturday morning,” he stated.
A major focus is still on the technical readjustment needed to transition from the impetuous nature of white-ball cricket to the deliberate patience of the longest version. Ten Doeschate referred to this procedure as a "detox."
“From a white-to-red-ball perspective, or IPL to Test-match cricket, it is really detoxing them, and that’s what these three days have been. You know, you want to make sure guys are making decisions based on where the ball is pitched; you want to make a few technical tweaks on how you set up, maybe, and how you keep your bat shape and all those sorts of things. Just detoxing, guys, make sure that those habits that are required to be successful in white-ball cricket sort of are put to bed, and we focus on playing proper Test cricket,” he said.
When building the playing XI in the longest format for the one-off Test against Afghanistan at Mullanpur, the management is considering the wider picture because a berth in the World Test Championship (WTC) final is India's top priority.
“I would imagine we play two seamers and a spinner with two spin all-rounders if you consider that the two guys we brought in can bat a little bit as well. We certainly want to start preparing for the road ahead. It’s going to be nine crucial Test matches in the WTC cycle, and sort of our last stab at making that final, which is the top priority at the moment. So, I think if you look forward to where we’ve got to play, who we’ve got to play against, we’re probably going to look to set up the team more with that in mind, and that would suggest three spinners,” Doeschate said.
“Siraj bowled yesterday; he looked absolutely fine,” Ten Doeschate confirmed.
When asked about players playing through injuries and niggles during the IPL, ten Doeschate said, “I think it’s a very individualistic thing, you know, with the India hat on, we want the players to be at their absolute best when they’re on international duty, and that’s a case of managing it on a case-by-case basis. We also appreciate that, uh, it’s a big time of year for those players. Uh, the IPL is a showpiece domestic competition.
So, it’s striking a balance between those two things, and I think with the workload guys have had playing in the last IPL, or certainly a large proportion of the contracted players, I think we’ve done fairly well out of it. You know, injuries happen; you can’t protect guys by not playing them, but we certainly need to identify the key parts of the international schedule and make sure our best players are uninjured, but also physically at their peak when we need them most.”
Ten Doeschate openly acknowledged that the management should support a long-term incumbent at No. 3 and that the ongoing volatility isn't good. Since Cheteshwar Pujara’s exit, India has tried the likes of Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar, and Devdutt Padikkal at the position.
"There have been a lot of changes in that spot, and that’s not ideal, you know. I think you need to look at the incumbents for that role and maybe stick with someone. It’s a difficult position to bat in and a very important position to bat. We want to make a decision and then trust that person to grow into the role, and ideally quickly, because with where we find ourselves in the WTC table, it’s obvious we don’t have time to bed an arm,” he stated.
Rishabh Pant will be playing his first Test after being relieved of Test vice-captaincy duties, which have been given to KL Rahul. According to the coach, Pant’s intrinsic aura does not require a formal badge.
“I don’t think he needs a formal title to be a leader in an elite setup like this, and I think Rishabh understands that. I think he’s committed to playing a good role model and senior player. With Rishabh’s brilliance, we don’t want to take away all the stuff that he does, you know. Occasionally, I think if he can adjust his game to play the situations slightly more, I think that’s something you’ll see him work on. But he’s been in great spirits again. No concerns about Rishabh, and I can’t wait to see him play again,” Ten Doeschate stated.
(RevSportz inputs)