Jasprit Bumrah reacts on day 1 of the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy day-night Test in Adelaide on December 6, 2024.
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Ryan ten Doeschate felt that India can turn the tide in the second Test. “I know that the scores look like there is a big gap between the two teams but we still feel we are in the game and with a few tweaks tomorrow (Saturday, December 7, 2024), we can get back in the game,” India’s assistant coach told the media at the Adelaide Oval on Friday (December 6, 2024) night.

He mentioned that things happen a bit faster with the pink ball: “It is the nature of the pink ball. Things happen in clumps, we lost wickets in clumps, which we wanted to avoid. I also thought that Mitchell’s (Starc) stock ball was very good and there are lessons to be learnt from that first innings. We will look at how we can play better in the second innings.”

Drawing inspiration from the Perth Test, ten Doeschate said: “At Perth we got bowled out for 150 and still we got back into that game. This is a proud team and the players want to come here and do well. We may be slightly behind in the game now but there won’t be any surrendering.”

Explaining that perhaps the Indian seamers could have bowled a bit fuller, ten Doeschate also gave credit to the way Australia batted: “They left very well. We feel that the kind of swing and seam is a little bit inconsistent which makes it tough for both parties.”

The assistant coach also lauded Nitish Kumar: “We are pleased with him. He is a young kid, and a little bit of work has to be done. But the way he played at Perth and out here, these are knocks of good quality.” And about picking R. Ashwin, ten Doeschate said: “We felt that on this surface he will be more suited.”

Sarfaraz Khan and KL Rahul are locked in a selection battle for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune which starts on October 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said on Tuesday (October 22, 2024) that middle-order batters KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan are locked in a selection battle for the second Test against New Zealand in Pune even though head coach Gautam Gambhir is keen to give the former, a long rope.

With India looking to bounce back from the eight-wicket thrashing at Bengaluru in the opening Test, focus will be on the team combination with Washington Sundar being added to the squad. Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant are both aiming to shake off injury concerns for the match starting on Thursday (October 24, 2024).

“Yeah, there’s no point in sugarcoating it, there’s a fight for a spot,” ten Doeschate told the media when asked if Rahul and Sarfaraz were battling for a place in the team, in Pune at the MCA Stadium ahead of India’s training session.

“Sarfaraz was obviously brilliant in the last Test. I went to KL after the last Test (and) said how many balls do you play at (and) miss at? He didn’t play at (and) miss at one ball and that’s what tends to happen when you’re not getting runs.

“There’s certainly no concerns about KL, he’s batting nicely, he’s in a good mental space. But we are certainly going to have to fit seven pieces into six spots for this Test and look at the pitch now and decide what’s going to be best for the team,” he said.

Sarfaraz scored a second-innings 150 in the Bengaluru game, while Rahul remained off-colour in both essays.

While admitting that it is difficult to keep Rahul out of the equation in the Test format, ten Doeschate said head coach Gautam Gambhir is “keen to” give him a long rope.

“It’s not like we’re worried about his form. If you go on just the past three months since Gauti has been in here, he’s keen to give him (Rahul) as much rope as we can. We have a lot of faith in him,” he said.

“But at the same time, it’s a very competitive environment, with Sarfaraz getting 150 plus runs (222 not out) in the Irani Trophy final. The decision will be what’s best for the team, but we’ll certainly back all the guys in,” he added.

Pant, who did not keep wickets for a significant part of the opening Test, and Shubman Gill, who missed the match due to stiffness in his neck, are close to attaining their full fitness.

“Rishabh is pretty good. I think Rohit (Sharmna) touched on it the other day. He was having a little bit of discomfort at the end range of his movement with the knee. But fingers crossed, he’ll be good to keep in the Test as well,” he said.

“He (Gill) looks so (available for this Test). He has batted last week in Bangalore, he had a few nets, he’s got a little bit of discomfort, but I think he’ll be good to go for the Test,” he added.