'There's a little bit of disbelief': ten Doeschate on Ireland defeat

India's shock 2-0 T20I series defeat to Ireland left assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitting there was "disbelief" in the dressing room while insisting the series exposed a pressing need for the batters to adapt more quickly to unfamiliar conditions rather than abandon their aggressive identity.

The defeat marked the end of India's 16-series unbeaten streak in T20Is and came merely three months after their second T20 World Cup triumph on the bounce. The series loss to Ireland came within two years of the end of India's 12-year unbeaten home Test series run, making it the second major streak to end under the current management led by Gautam Gambhir.

"There's a little bit of disbelief," ten Doeschate said on Sunday (June 28). "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.

"So firstly, credit to Ireland, and secondly the learnings for us in terms of being able to adapt to different conditions. That's probably the biggest takeaway from this. The guys really know how to play in India. This is a good lesson in the fact that we're going to have to adapt and play slightly differently when we go to different countries and play against different teams."

According to ten Doeschate, India's inability to adjust to conditions after months of playing T20 cricket in the subcontinent proved decisive. Ireland consistently denied the batters scoring opportunities straight down the ground, an area where India struggled throughout the two-match series.

"That was essentially our undoing," he said. "It's things we spoke about before, but we just didn't address it well enough out in the middle. I think the big thing was the wind.

"Again, absolutely no excuses, but when presented with a different challenge we have to find solutions of playing in a different manner, in a better manner. I thought Ireland did that very well with the ball. They never let us hit straight. In two matches, I think we hit two straight sixes. They were both off the spinner. They just did the basics really well and we couldn't combat that.

"We're probably too used to a sort of a tempo and style where you can hit sixes more freely. I think this will be the case when you go to England as well, you know, maybe slightly quicker wickets, maybe slightly less wind, but we're going to have to adapt and be a lot smarter about how we'd like to play if we're going to get wins there.

"That [not getting hit down the ground] was the central focus of our discussion, particularly for the second game," ten Doeschate said. "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."

Despite the setback, ten Doeschate cautioned against reading the result as a reason to dilute India's attacking philosophy, particularly in the Powerplay. "It's been a strong part of the team's identity over the last two years, or even going back three or four years, that we really try to dominate the powerplay," he said.

"It's easy to say sit around, but if you never swing, you're never going to hit a six. We want to get that balance right. I'd certainly be cautious about saying let's be very careful upfront. That's not the way we want to play it. We just want to take better options and give ourselves a better chance of dominating the Powerplay."

India's preparation was also less than ideal, with the team arriving shortly before the series and getting only one training session. An additional practice between the two games was washed out because of a wet outfield, although ten Doeschate refused to use that as an excuse.

"I think training more does give you a better chance to adapt," he said. "I think you also really need to tread carefully in terms of freshness and giving guys time off and making sure that they're mentally fresh for series as well. In hindsight, I wouldn't have done things differently. We got here on Thursday and, again, we know how hard the Irish are trying to put on good facilities. The training facilities weren't ideal, so we had a little hit there but, yeah, of course you'd rather have three or four hits like you would for a normal tour.

"Again, no excuse. If we're really critical of ourselves, it's the desire to want to adapt and to play differently when you are presented with a different challenge. We put our hands up, and say that's something we need to get better at a lot quicker."

Ten Doeschate, who represented the Netherlands during his playing career, also praised Ireland's achievement, acknowledging the significance of the series win for a team that continues to have limited opportunities against top opposition despite becoming a Full Member.

"Without being disrespectful, no," ten Doeschate said if he expected such a challenge from Ireland. "You mark guys player to player and what the Indian players have achieved in their careers. There's a couple of guys sitting there who have won two World Cups on the bounce. There's guys who have played hundreds of IPL games, and I think that sort of just underlines what an achievement it is [for Ireland].

"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. It's obviously super disappointing to lose, but to see them make progress like that and just win by making the most of what they have is very impressive, and we take our hats off to them."