Team India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has downplayed any concerns over star player Hardik Pandya’s fitness. He shared that Pandya’s reduced bowling workload in the ongoing T20Is against South Africa was due to conditions as well as the team combination as well. However, South Africa beat India by 51 runs in the second T20I at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Thursday, December 11 as well.
Ryan ten Doeschate added: “It’s got nothing to do with where he’s at physically. We are very happy with where he’s at physically. In the Asia Cup, he was taking the new ball. Obviously, the combination there was different. We were playing three spinners and two out-and-out seamers. For this series and the conditions we are facing, we are playing two seamers who are obviously going to take the new ball.”
While star Indian pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh opened the bowling for India in the second T20I, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel bowled the last two overs of the powerplay as well. Chakaravarthy got a wicket with his first ball, but Axar conceded 12 runs in his opening over.
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He added, “Varun’s been very good at the backend of powerplays. In Cuttack and here tonight, Surya had a hunch that Axar could be dangerous in the powerplay. It’s nice to know we have an extra option. We’ve now got four guys who can bowl in the powerplay. Hardik has bowled nicely and smartly in both the games.”
However, Ryan ten Doeschate also admitted that the hosts had a poor day with the ball in the second T20I against South Africa as well. He also said that the bowlers gave up too early and allowed South African batters to dominate.
“The bowlers had a poor night. We blinked a little bit early tonight. It was 10.1, Quinton hit that first ball after the break for six. We went away from our plans too quickly. We don’t mind guys trying, but you’ve got your plans and how you are executing the plans. We probably missed on both of those tonight, which is something we want to avoid,” he added.
“We are trying things combination wise. We’ve got 8-9 games before the World Cup. We’ve found ourselves being 35-3 more times that we would have liked in the last couple of months. It’s just an exploration into how we can extend the batting – the link between the openers and the guys who want to come in and smash it around when things get a little easier,” Ryan ten Doeschate concluded.
