T20 World Cup 2026: India need clearer plans against spin on slower surfaces, admits Ryan ten Doeschate

India’s unbeaten run at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has done little to mask a growing concern around their approach against spin-friendly surfaces, according to assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate. Speaking after India’s 17-run win over the Netherlands in Ahmedabad, ten Doeschate admitted that the team needs clearer plans for conditions that bring finger spinners into play.

India’s group-stage campaign has been dominant on paper, with four consecutive wins securing early qualification for the Super Eight stage. Yet ten Doeschate suggested that certain issues have been exposed, particularly when wickets grip and boundaries are larger.

“I think on better wickets, you won't see it [batters struggling against spin]. You can hit through the line with more confidence. But the point is that we need to have plans where the wickets do hold and the [longer] boundaries are there. We need to be able to have a game plan to deal with that threat," ten Doeschate said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

One factor working against India has been the composition of their batting order. With six left-handers in the top eight, opposition teams have leaned heavily on off-spin and finger spin. No side has faced more off-spin in the group stage than India, who have played 102 balls of it. Among the 13 teams to have faced at least six overs of off-spin, only Nepal and Oman have scored at a slower rate.

“I wouldn't say [there are struggles against] offspin, I'd say fingerspin [on the whole]. If you take the combined figures, I think Pakistan bowled 14 [17] overs of fingerspin in the last game, and off the top of my head, I want to say [they got] something like 4 for 78 or something like that [5 for 125]. So it's not great numbers [for India]," he reflected.

Those concerns resurfaced against the Netherlands, who handed the new ball to Aryan Dutt. The off-spinner struck immediately, dismissing Abhishek Sharma for his third consecutive duck in the competition. Dutt went on to bowl three overs in the powerplay, finishing with figures of 2 for 17 and also removing Ishan Kishan.

With early wickets down, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma consolidated through the middle-overs (7 to 15) scoring at a run rate of 7.44.

On the eve of the match, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had defended Tilak’s approach as role-specific. Ten Doeschate, however, acknowledged that India’s middle-overs template needs sharper planning.

“It's been a trend in this World Cup. In IPL or bilateral series, the pace of the innings carries through from powerplay. Across all games, particularly across Sri Lanka [at this World Cup], you get off the books quickly, and batting becomes difficult through the middle phase, and teams are getting a lot more clever now [sic]." ten Doeschate said.

He pointed to tactical adjustments made by opponents, particularly the Netherlands.

“The Dutch guys took pace off a lot of the time. Teams are bowling a lot of fingerspin to us because we have so many left-handers, so it's a challenge, and [it's] going to be a differentiator in the second phase of this competition. Colombo [against Pakistan] was a particularly difficult wicket, and I think the numbers tonight got sort of improved towards the back end. But again, Aryan Dutt bowling four overs, it is a big challenge. I think these two venues in particular with the bigger boundary here [in Ahmedabad], and obviously a slower wicket in Colombo sort of does exaggerate that. But it's something we're going to have to focus on, like I said, with the amount of fingerspin we're going to get in the next three games," he added.

Asked whether India’s reliance on left-hand batters has made opposition planning easier, ten Doeschate was candid.

“It has. We don't have many options [in the top three]. We've got Sanju [Samson] sitting on the side, and we feel on balance, particularly with the games coming up, if we look at what fingerspinners we are going to come up against, New Zealand have got a few guys who bowl fingerspin, so do West Indies, and so does South Africa if you include [Aiden] Markram… But on balance, we still feel that these are our best batters, and we're going to make do with the abundance of left-handers,” he said.

Despite Abhishek Sharma’s three successive ducks, the coaching staff remain confident in the young opener.

“He looked a little bit down. He wants to do well, he understands the magnitude of the competition. He's well aware of how good a player he is, he understands a small run of form like this can happen, but he's batting well. Yesterday [on match eve] was the love he needed. He batted for close to 90 minutes, really looked like he had his rhythm back. So he'll be fine. Just got to keep filling him with confidence. His record is the confidence he needs," he concluded.