India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has expressed concern over the recent decline in the Indian team's ability to play spin, a skill traditionally seen as one of their strengths. Ten Doeschate, who joined the coaching staff under the leadership of head coach Gautam Gambhir, highlighted that the team’s focus on excelling in overseas conditions may have come at the cost of their once-dominant play against spin.

In a recent interview with TalkSport Cricket, ten Doeschate said, "One of the challenges I wasn't expecting and kind of overlooked is the playing of spin by Indian batters. We got undone in Sri Lanka." India’s recent ODI series against Sri Lanka saw them lose 27 wickets to spin across three matches, exposing a vulnerability that the team will need to address as they prepare for a crucial home season.

"The mindset of India has been such that they've been so desperate to do well overseas," ten Doeschate explained. "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."

Ten Doeschate, 44, is one of two assistant coaches brought in by Gambhir, alongside Abhishek Nayar. With a wealth of experience from his playing days and coaching stints with Kent, Kolkata Knight Riders, and LA Knight Riders, ten Doeschate’s role will focus more on mental preparation than technical adjustments. "I don't think much of what we're going to bring is technical knowledge to these guys," he said. "It's more about mindsets, situational awareness, how we think they can control certain phases of the game."

As India looks ahead, the stakes are high. The team’s immediate goals include qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final, with five home Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand coming up. This will be followed by a challenging five-Test series in Australia at the end of 2024. Beyond that, India will compete in the Champions Trophy in early 2025 and prepare for a demanding tour of England in the summer of 2025, culminating in the 2026 T20 World Cup.

"It's exciting and kind of daunting at the same time," ten Doeschate admitted. "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."

India’s upcoming assignments begin with a two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting on September 19 in Chennai.