The Indian cricket team, led by Suryakumar Yadav is having a stellar time at the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 as the Men in Blue have not lost a single game in their campaign so far. As Team India is now preparing for the Super 8 round, there have been a few serious concerns in the camp.
Ahead of India’s first match against South Africa on February 22nd, which is scheduled to take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has openly admitted the concerns and has revealed how the opposition team can trouble India in the next phase of the ongoing tournament.
Ryan ten Doeschate Warns of India’s Weak Spot Ahead of T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8
Ryan ten Doeschate underlines two major concerns — fielding and spin attack. It has to be noted that the Indian cricket team has already dropped 9 catches in the ongoing tournament. Apart from the fielding, another bigger issue is India’s batting against spin. So far, the Indian batters have scored 315 runs off 42 overs of spin in the ongoing World Cup. The spinners have managed to dismiss Indian batters 15 times in the showpiece event.
In fact, smaller teams, including the likes of the Netherlands and the USA, have also managed to trick India with their talented spinners, putting pressure on them by bowling tight lines.
Addressing these issues, Ryan ten Doeschate told the media, as quoted by Revsportz: “The Dutch guys took pace off the ball a lot of the time. And obviously, teams are bowling a lot of finger spin to us with having so many left-handers in our lineup. That is a challenge. It has (lefties have made it easier for the opposition). We don’t have many options. We’ve got Sanju sitting on the side.”
Big Grounds and Slow Pitches Adding to India’s Challenges
Further, Ryan said that the finger spinners have turned out to be a big challenge in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. He explained how the big grounds and slightly low pitches are helping the spinners control the game better.
He also highlighted how Pakistan bowled 14 overs of finger spin, but didn’t get many wickets. On the other hand, Netherlands off-spinner Aryan Dutt impressed one and all with his smart variations during the game and bowled slower deliveries and used the big boundaries in his favour to put pressure on the opposition batters.
According to Ten Doeschate, finger spin will be a big test in the Super 8 round. The Indian cricket team will face Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the West Indies in the Super 8 stage of the tournament. South Africa have strong spin options like Aiden Markram, George Linde, and Keshav Maharaj. West Indies can rely on Roston Chase and Gudakesh Motie, while Zimbabwe has Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, and Wellington Masakadza. These bowlers can trouble the Indian batters.
With so many spinners in the next round, Ryan admitted that the Indian batters will have to play smart cricket. He said, “I’d say finger spin. It is a big challenge. The point is that we need to have plans where the wickets do hold, and the boundaries are bigger. We need to be able to have a game plan to deal with that threat. It’s something we’re going to have to focus on.
Like I said, with the amount of finger spin we’re going to get in the next three games, it’s going to be important that we dominate that phase of the game.”
Ryan ten Doeschate On Team India’s Poor Fielding
Speaking about India’s poor fielding in the ongoing tournament, Ryan admitted that dropping catches is ‘never great’ for the team. He concluded by saying, “Particularly in the Super 8 phase, and we talk about the next phase, we’re going to come up against some really good fielding teams.”
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