With a whole week free in between matches following their victory in the high-stress match against Pakistan, India’s ICC Champions Trophy campaign came to a bit of a standstill last week. To complete the group, India will play New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday. However, since qualification has already been certain, they are aware that they will play their quarterfinal on Tuesday, which is less than two days after their third group match.
The rapid turnaround between these two matches raises questions regarding fitness and recovery. Ryan ten Doeschate, the assistant coach for the Indian team, was asked about the team’s strategy to keep its bowlers fresh and whether they might think about making adjustments and providing rest to help them do so. “We’ve had two pretty tough training sessions, so that’s been the preparation,” ten Doeschate explained in the press conference. “In terms of the bench strength, I think the priority is making sure that we have our best guys available and fully fit for the second game.”
But according to ten Doeschate, the team faces certain difficulties in terms of balance and conditioning because of this prolonged break that is followed right away by two brief games. “But we also don’t want to rest them for another two days. So to get that balance right, we might just try to share the bowling out a little bit,” said the former Dutch cricketer. “But we obviously want to win against New Zealand as well. It’s important that we keep that momentum going and obviously to top the group as well,” he continued. “So the balance of those two things I just mentioned [is] to be thought about.”
According to ten Doeschate’s press conference, India may decide to use their sixth or seventh bowling options a bit more in order to avoid placing undue strain on any one bowler, even though they have bench bowling options in Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, and Washington Sundar.
The Dutch coach was also questioned over Rohit Sharma’s condition, as he appeared to be dealing with a hamstring problem after hobbling off the field. Ten Doeschate clarified things prior to the New Zealand match, even though Rohit stated in the post-match interview after the Pakistan victory that he was ready to go. “He’s all right. It’s an injury he’s had before, so he knows how to manage it really well,” he said.
Shubman Gill was rumored to make his ODI captaincy debut if Rohit is rested, but based on ten Doeschate’s remarks, it seems that the vice-captain will have to wait for an ODI leadership opportunity. The pressure will be off for India against the Kiwis, but they will want to maintain their momentum and keep this winning habit as they look to go 3-0 in Dubai in the group stages and head into the semifinals with confidence.
