India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate gave a rather blunt response when asked about Pakistan classifying its left-arm wrist spinner Mohammad Nawaz as the best in the world ahead of the high-octane clash at the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai on Sunday (September 14).
Before Pakistan's campaign opener, white-ball head coach Mike Hesson dubbed Nawaz as the "best spinner in the world".
His remarks came in the aftermath of Nawaz being declared Player-of-the-Series during Pakistan's T20I Tri-Series win over Afghanistan and the UAE. He returned with 10 scalps in five matches at an average of 11.70, including a five-wicket haul in the final.
Doeschate highlighted the critical role the tweakers will play across the continental event, considering the nature of the UAE's surface.
The Indian squad features experienced spinners like Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel, with Washington Sundar in the reserves. No wonder, the Dutchman remains unfazed about the tag Pakistan coach puts on his players.
"I think spin is going to be very important in this competition. If anything, I don't think it's gripped as much as we anticipated, and certainly not like it did earlier in the year when we were here. But spin in general has become a very important part of T20 cricket, and both teams have a lot of spin on offer. And we certainly know how we feel about Varun, Axar and Kuldeep. So everyone's entitled to their opinion, and they can rank their players wherever they wish," Doeschate said while speaking to reporters in the pre-match press conference.
Pakistan’s prolific batting pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam has been left out of the T20I setup since last December. After Mike Hesson’s appointment as white-ball head coach, speculations had been rife about the stalwart duo's return.
Doeschate admitted the new route that Pakistan are now treading on, but expressed confidence that his team has plans and strategies in place to nullify their threat.
"I think Pakistan have decided to change the direction of how they play their cricket, and that obviously affects the way they're set up in terms of personnel. It's pretty obvious you're referring to quality cricketers, but I think Pakistan want to go a different way. Of course, we've done lots of homework on the guys they brought in, fairly inexperienced guys in the grand scheme of things, but probably more dangerous in terms of how they want to play, and we've got our plans and our strategies for attacking that tomorrow," he said.
India have been deemed as the favourites on paper to beat their traditional rivals. While acknowledging India's strength, Doeschate affirmed that they are under "no illusion" about the task at hand.
"Yeah, I mean, that short-term record is pretty incredible, and we've been very consistent in how we've played. Obviously, cricket at this level is about how you execute on the day. But yeah, I've been totally honest, and looking at the recent form and how the teams have played, I would say India do start as favourites tomorrow. We'll be focused on the 120 balls with the bat and 120 balls in the bowl, and the team that is more consistent over those 240 balls will be better," he said.
"So we're under no illusion as to the task ahead, and a big part of what we're trying to do and looking forward is to stay grounded and just focus on getting better, the individuals getting better every day. So form counts for very little when you come to competitions, regional competitions like this," he added.
India squad for Asia Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Pakistan squad for Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (C), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waseem Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
(With ANI Inputs)
