New Delhi, Aug 21 : Ryan ten Doeschate, the India men's assistant coach, said he is keen to get the batters in the current set-up become best players of playing spin bowling in the world.

His comments come after India lost 27 wickets to Sri Lankan spinners in the three ODIs held in Colombo earlier this month, as the Rohit Sharma-led side slumped to a 2-0 defeat. It's the highest number of dismissals any team has lost to spin-bowling in a three-match bilateral men's ODI series.

"One of the challenges I wasn't expecting and I kind of overlooked is the playing of spin by Indian batters. We got undone in Sri Lanka. The mindset of India has been such that they've been so desperate to do well overseas."

"The focus has moved to doing well in Australia, England (so) that we've kind of let playing spin, which was always a strength of the Indian team, fall back a little bit. That's one thing I'm looking forward to helping with, getting to that position where Indians are the best players of spin in the world again," said ten Doeschate, the former Netherlands captain, to TalkSport Cricket.

In the Gautam Gambhir-led India men's coaching staff, ten Doeschate is the second assistant coach alongside Abhishek Nayar. Since his playing days ended in 2021, ten Doeschate had coaching stints with Kent in England's domestic circuit, Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and LA Knight Riders in Major League Cricket (MLC).

Ten Doeschate said the focus in his role is more on preparation for matches instead of technical information. "I don't think much of what we're going to bring is technical knowledge to these guys.'

'It's more about mindsets, situational awareness, how we think they can control certain phases of the game. (It's about) throwing ideas out there, de-briefing and keeping the mental space really good. That's going to be really important."

With the Indian team coming off a T20 World Cup triumph, as well as runners-up finishes in ODI World Cup and World Test Championship, ten Doeschate stated he's excited about the prospect of working with a side which has been successful of late, and what all is lying ahead in future.

"It's exciting and kind of daunting at the same time. In terms of what we're looking forward to, qualifying for the WTC final (next June is a goa). There's a great opportunity with 10 Tests left, five in India (over the next couple of months) and then going to Australia (for five more at the end of 2024) is going to be great.'

"Then in the medium term there's the Champions Trophy (in February 2025). With only three ODIs left in the prep phase, it's going to be really challenging to switch between the formats and get the team ready for that, which again is something they're desperate to win.'

"Then in the next (WTC) cycle, the tour to England (summer of 2025) is going to be fantastic and then prepping the team for the (2026) T20 World Cup. In terms of timing, it's quite difficult to walk into a team that's just come back with the (2024 T20) World Cup.'

'But in terms of what's ahead for the next 18 months, it's mouth-watering as a coach. It's all the series you want to be involved in and all the challenges you want to come up against," he concluded.

/IANS