NEW DELHI: India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate believes Shubman Gill's struggles in T20Is stem from putting too much pressure on himself since returning to the format. The team management, he revealed, wants Gill to express himself with the same freedom he shows in the IPL.
Gill re-entered India's T20 setup during the Asia Cup in September, shortly after guiding India to two memorable Test victories in the drawn five-match series in England. He took over the opening slot from Sanju Samson, but the runs haven't come as expected, prompting concerns with the T20 World Cup at home just months away.
Suryakumar Yadav takes responsibility after India suffer heavy defeat in Mullanpur
After India's defeat in the second T20I against South Africa, ten Doeschate said Gill must relax and play with freedom in the shortest format. He added that the opener had begun showing glimpses of that uninhibited approach towards the end of the Australia tour last month.
"Taking on the captaincy the way he did in England and how well he led and how much pride he took in that performance, I think an element of that carried over into what he wanted to do in the T20 side," said the assistant coach in response to a PTI query.
"So if anything, he was too caring and maybe a little bit too tight. Like I said, towards the back end of Australia, the talks were around freeing up a little bit more, trying to relinquish that responsibility, certainly in that capacity where you feel like it is all about you and you really need to justify your place in the team.
"We don't want him to do that. We want him to play as freely as he does during IPL seasons. We believe in his class and we believe he will come good, and exactly the same with Surya (captain too has had an extended lean run)," said ten Doeschate.
The former Netherlands all-rounder also threw his support behind Suryakumar Yadav, noting that the skipper's patchy run of form since taking charge last year doesn't reflect his true calibre.
"Surya again is such quality and we have high expectations of the players. If you are going to be India's number three, there is pressure on you to score runs.
"There has been a fairly long string of form now where he hasn't got the scores we like. But in isolation, we are certainly not worried about it. Batting at three again, the job we want from him is to go out there and attack.
"Again, he is someone I also thought had a lightbulb moment in Australia. I thought he has been batting really nicely leading into this series as well. Like I said, two games we are not worried about and we are confident that he will come good," said ten Doeschate.
We had a poor night with the ball
India conceded 213 runs in good batting conditions with the pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah having an off day, leaking 54 and 45 runs in their four overs respectively. Arshdeep was guilty of bowling as many as seven wides in the 11th over after being slapped for a six down the ground by Quinton de Kock.
"I think the bowlers have had a poor night tonight, a bad day at the office, so to speak. We have already had a quick chat around it there. And to be quite frank, I thought we blinked a little bit early tonight.
"That first ball after the break for six (Arshdeep's 11th over), and I thought we went away from our plans too quickly. And again, we don't mind guys trying, but you have got your plans and are you executing the plans? And we probably missed on both of those tonight, which is something we want to avoid (in Dharamsala)," said ten Doeschate.
On Axar batting at five in the series opener and number three on Thursday, the coach added: "Again, we are trying things combination-wise. We have got eight or nine games now before the World Cup. And I guess, being quite frank, we found ourselves being 35 for three more times than we would have liked in the last couple of months.
"So it is just an exploration into how we can extend the batting, the link between the openers and the guys who want to come in and smash it around, maybe when things do get a little bit easier."
(With PTI Inputs)
