Axar Axing: Ryan Ten Doeschate terms move tactical

India’s call to bench vice-captain Axar Patel in a high-stakes Super Eight clash against South Africa inevitably triggered murmurs about hierarchy and messaging within the group but assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak asserted that the decision was born purely out of tactical compulsions.

India lost to South Africa by 76 runs, and a rusty Washington Sundar’s complete flop show with both bat and ball and being put on the park at the expense of senior player Axar has raised questions whether only one man in the team management is taking all tactical calls, including the questionable ones.

“Yeah, we spent so much time deliberating about the eleven over the last couple of days. We were kind of looking at match-ups more in the middle. In hindsight it looks like the right decision (to play Axar), but at the time we felt we needed Rinku as an eighth batter. The decision was based around there,” the straight-talking Ten Doeschate replied to a query from the PTI during the post-match press conference Sunday night.

He repeatedly stressed that the decision isn’t a reflection of how Axar is perceived in the team or whether the vice-captain is dispensable. “It’s certainly not to take anything away from Axar and his leadership and how important he is to the team,” Ten Doeschate said. Batting coach Kotak informed that Axar was provided proper reasoning by head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav.

“Look, Surya and Gautam both spoke to Axar about the decision (to drop him). The reason to play Washy was that they had three left-handers in the top five — Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickleton and David Miller — and hence there was a feeling that an off-spinner (takes the ball away from left-hander) should play,” Kotak said during a chat at the ICC Mixed Zone. “Now both De Kock and Ricketon were dismissed by Bumrah and hence Washy wasn’t required to bowl more than two overs (in the game). The actual plan was to bowl Washy inside the powerplay but that you know can change as per match situation,” Kotak said.

Kotak was, however, emphatic in his denial that the axing of a vice-captain in a marquee match isn’t a vote of no-confidence by the team management. “Axar has played so much cricket that his confidence won’t be dented because of this move. And as I said, coach and captain must have clearly told him as to why they took such a call.” Ten Doeschate stressed that managing a 15-member squad in a global tournament invariably throws up tough selection headaches.

“We face it almost every week, trying to squeeze 11 places into 15. We’re finding it tricky and we need to make sure we get that spot on for the next two Super Eight games,” Ten Doeschate said with a word of caution. Even Ten Doeschate was slightly on the defensive when he was put forth the same question as to why T20I vice-captains — Shubman Gill before this and now Axar — are being sent messages that they could be dropped anytime.

“It is not as straightforward as that,” Ten Doeschate begged to differ. “When you can only choose one of the two (between Axar and Washington), we thought of someone who can bowl in the Powerplay was important,” the former Dutch skipper stated. “Axar only occasionally bowls in the powerplay, but we felt that we have got Washy to a point where he’s found a way of being effective there,” he said.

“A big part of the strategy today was how well he bowled in the T20Is when he bowled in the Powerplay. Winning that powerplay was going to be super important. We envisaged him bowling two overs in the powerplay, not knowing South Africa were going to be 30 for three,” he elaborated. Ten Doeschate admitted that, on the face of it, playing Axar might have seemed the more natural choice for middle-overs control, but T20Is are rarely that linear.

“Washington obviously didn’t bowl in the powerplay tonight, so it looks like we’ve purely gone on who’s going to bowl through the middle, in which case you would choose Axar. But the strategy was around that. “In a tournament like this, you expect all players to understand that we’re trying to pick the best 11 to win the game, and I hope Axar takes it in the same spirit as well,” he said.