Ryan ten Doeschate, Team India assistant coach, hinted that the team management is trying to build a strong core of players keeping the next two years in mind. He also hinted at pacer Harshit Rana making his India debut in the third and final T20I against Bangladesh in Hyderabad on Saturday.
In the next 2 years or so, India is slated to participate in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series of 5 matches, the ICC Champions Trophy, and possibly the ICC World Test Championship final. There is the Asia Cup in 2025 and the T20 World Cup in 2026 to be played in India and Sri Lanka.
"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. Some guys can fill multiple roles which is 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,” Ten Doeschate told the media on the eve of the third T20I against Bangladesh in Hyderabad.
Ryan ten Doeschate also talked about pacer Harshit Rana and hinted that he might get to play his maiden match for India on Saturday.
"We are trying to expose as many guys as we can to international experience with what we have got coming up. So, someone like Harshit Rana we are keen to give a game to. And certainly, the plan originally was to win the series and then try a few new faces for the last game,” he said.
"The players are very carefully selected. Ideally, yes, you want to build a strong core of players but this is an overlapping series and the Champions Trophy is coming up, there's the Asia Cup coming up, and the World Cup coming up. We want to know where everyone stands in Indian cricket.
Two debuts [Mayank Yadav and Nitish Reddy] in the first T20I, which is really important. And just having the guys around - Jitesh and the guys that haven't played, Tilak and Harshit - and seeing how they operate and what strings we need to pull to get the best out of them because they are going to be important certainly in the next 18-month period,” Ten Doeschate said.
Ryan also highlighted why they are keen to give Sanju another chance and how his innings in Gwalior underscored the team's philosophy of fearless batting.
"If you look back at the first two games, someone like Sanju got a quick start in the first game in Gwalior, it would have been easy for him to knock it around and just get a 50-60 not out. But you can see he is trying to push the boundary. He knows the state of the game and the messaging has been pretty consistent with that," Ryan said.
(ANI inputs)
