‘Time to pull our sleeves up’: India coach Ryan ten Doeschate hints at playing XI shake-up after Super 8 defeat

NEW DELHI: India’s crushing defeat to South Africa in the Super Eight opener of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup has triggered serious questions about the underperforming batting unit, with assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitting that changes — including the possible inclusion of Sanju Samson — are firmly on the table.

Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

India’s left-hand heavy top order once again crumbled under pressure during the chase of 188, eventually collapsing to 111. The spotlight fell heavily on out-of-form opener Abhishek Sharma, who managed just 15 — his first runs of the tournament after three consecutive ducks — and Tilak Varma, whose struggles have compounded India’s fragile starts.




Addressing the selection dilemma, ten Doeschate acknowledged that bringing in a right-hand option like Samson is under serious consideration.

“Yeah, of course, we have looked at the five outings we have had now, four teams have opened with part-time off spin, and it has got a wicket every time, apart from the USA game where we lost Abhi without score in any case (to pacer Ali Khan),” he said.

“So to start every inning zero for one, I think it has literally been zero or a couple of runs for one every time is obviously putting pressure on the link players. Tilak and SKY (Surya), their role is to link up with the guys at the back end, and it has not gone that way,” he added.


India now face a tough call between backing struggling players and making bold changes.

“You stick with the guys who we feel have performed really well over the last 18 months and who are maybe shy of a few runs now? Or do we twist and bring Sanju, who is also a fantastic player and obviously helps tactically with having a right-hander at the top of the order, and I am sure that will be a talking point over the next few days, going into these two very important games,” he said.

Ten Doeschate also revealed that Abhishek’s poor run has been compounded by illness.

“You want him to be up and running and sort of confident in his swing and confident in his game plan (on Abhishek), and when you score three zeroes, that is going to start weighing on you. I saw some really good signs on Friday night in the nets. I think I mentioned it in the presser then. But he looks a little bit short, and our job as the coaching staff is to pull that right. We have got four days to do that,” he added.

He also defended Rinku Singh, whose returns as finisher have been modest.

“There is no point talking about rhythm in nets or how guys are feeling or what they are not feeling. It is time to pull our sleeves up and get performance out of all the players, and like I just said there, that is the challenge for the staff, along with the players now, to regroup and put in a big effort leading up to the next game against Zimbabwe,” he concluded.


Get the latest ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 updates, including the full schedule, teams, live scores, points table, and key series stats such as top run-scorers and wicket-takers.