India’s assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, has acknowledged that it has been particularly challenging for star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant to watch the ongoing Champions Trophy matches from the sidelines. However, he emphasized that "that’s the nature of sport at this level." Pant has not been included in the playing XI for the last two group matches, with wicket-keeping responsibilities handed to KL Rahul, who has excelled both behind the stumps and in the middle order.
"It’s been very hard on Rishabh not playing. But that’s the nature of sport at this level," Doeschate told reporters on Friday when asked about the dilemma of having two high-quality wicketkeepers. "KL has been good. He didn’t get many chances earlier… we’ve got to keep Rishabh up and running. We never know when we’re going to need him. But certainly, having two wicketkeepers of that caliber is a nice thing to have."
Doeschate also suggested that Sunday’s match against New Zealand could turn into a contest of spin between the two teams. "They (New Zealand) have four spinners as well, so it could be a contest of spin. Coming into the competition, we weren’t expecting such an over-reliance on spin. But the guys have bowled nicely, and the pitch has helped a little bit, so I’m sure it’s going to be the same for the next game here tomorrow," he said.
The former Dutch cricketer hinted that India might make some changes to the bowling attack for their final group match against New Zealand. However, he emphasized that the team would not compromise on balance, as they aim to top the group with an unbeaten record. New Zealand has already qualified for the semifinals with two wins, and the match will determine the Group A leader.
"We’ve had two pretty tough training sessions, so that’s been the preparation. In terms of the bench strength, I think the priority is making sure that we have our best guys available and fully fit for the second game (semifinal on March 4)," Doeschate said. "But we also don’t want to rest them for another two days. So, to get that balance right, we might just try to share the bowling out a little bit. But we obviously want to win against New Zealand as well."
He stressed the importance of maintaining momentum and topping the group, adding that these factors would influence team selection. When asked about captain Rohit Sharma’s fitness after an injury scare during the match against Pakistan, Doeschate assured, "He’s all right. You can see he’s batting a little bit further than earlier. It’s an injury he’s had before, so he knows how to manage it really well."
Regarding the difficulty of scoring on the pitch, Doeschate said, "I won’t say difficult. I think we’ve become used to a standard where you score 320 without thinking too much about it. So, getting to 320 has been difficult. The pitch has played slightly differently, in my opinion, in those two games. But they are probably like 280-290 pitches if you bat really well. So, in the bigger picture, yeah, it’s not like playing in Pakistan, where you expect to get 320-330. You’ve got to adapt yourself and get a score that’s good on these wickets. And we think it’s right about 280-290, judging by the first two pitches."
He also expressed satisfaction with the amount of rest the players have had since their last game against Pakistan on February 23. "They’ve had a lot of rest now. But it’s how you back the two games up. So, if all the seamers are going to bowl 10 overs, and then say we bowl second in the first game, we’re bowling 36 hours later, we’re bowling first, that’s quite a workload. So, that’s what I was alluding to. One of the options is to make sure the guys don’t bowl their full quota of overs, if that opportunity allows itself. But we’re ready to manage that in the field and try to keep the guys as fresh as possible for the first and the final," he said.
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