‘There’s a little bit of disbelief’ - Ryan ten Doeschate on India’s 2-0 T20I series loss to Ireland

India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitted to a sense of disbelief after the team’s 2-0 T20I series loss to Ireland in Belfast, saying the reigning world champions were outplayed by a side that simply did the basics better. The defeat ended India’s 16-series unbeaten run in T20Is.

Ireland completed a historic series sweep on Sunday, June 28, defeating India by 1 run in the second T20I at the Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont. Jai Moondra was the standout performer for the hosts, taking 3 for 32 to be named Player of the Series with five wickets across the two games. India, who won both tosses, fell short at 153 for 9 while chasing 155 in 20 overs.

“There’s a little bit of disbelief. It’s also very hard to be critical of guys who have just won a World Cup. We’ve been outdone or outsmarted by a team who just did the basics very well,” ten Doeschate said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

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Ten Doeschate pointed to India’s batting approach as the key failing, noting that while the bowling unit adjusted well in the second game, the batters could not shift their mindset quickly enough to suit the Irish conditions.

“That [not getting hit down the ground] was the central focus of our discussion, particularly for the second game. I thought we adjusted really well as a bowling unit today. I thought we bowled a lot smarter and that probably reflected in the score that they got on the board today, but again with the ball they were fantastic. I don’t think there was one ball pitched up from the seamers and their spinners, and again it was reflected in the economy rates. We need to learn from that. We need to adapt quicker. It is something we spoke about but, again, without being overcritical, we want the boys to make those adjustments a lot quicker,” ten Doeschate added.

Despite the deflating result, the former Netherlands all-rounder was generous in his praise for Ireland, maintaining that this was not a case of India having two poor days.

“I wouldn’t even say we had two bad days. I thought the Irish were fantastic over both days. Not a razzmatazz 240, 250 type of cricket. They [were] smart enough to navigate their way to two good scores. I mean we won both tosses as well. I’m pretty chuffed for them,” ten Doeschate said.

India now turn their attention to a five-match T20I series against England, starting on Wednesday, July 1, at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street.