The winds of change seem to be blowing through Indian cricket after a demanding sequence of international matches. Although official response from the BCCI is yet to be made, we already know that assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has finished his tenure with the team. At this moment, the team is coming out of India's white-ball assignment in the United Kingdom (with a tough T20I and ODI series in England), so this is the end of a very tough two years for the coaching team.
Ten Doeschate came to the national team in July 2024 and joined head coach Gautam Gambhir’s new support team after India’s historic T20 World Cup victory. As Gambhir’s trusted tactical ally, the Dutch all-rounder was appointed to bridge the gaps in all departments and he worked with the batsmen and fielders. The team reached sky-high heights in limited overs and won the 2025 Asia Cup and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2026.
But the journey was not without its difficulties in the traditional format of the game. In the Test team’s delicate transition phase, they had to contend with challenges on foreign and home ground. These included losing the iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy on tour to Australia and home series reverses against New Zealand and South Africa. Such long periods are often occasions for introspection and re-orientation in the world of the top teams, and transition in support staff is a natural aspect of life for teams going forward in that sphere.
Ten Doeschate is expected to return to the Indian Premier League and will come back home with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the future. He was one of the team’s biggest players from the day he joined KKR in 2012-2014 and played many years, later transitioning to coaching as the fielding coach and helping KKR to another IPL title in 2024 alongside Gambhir and head coach Chandrakant Pandit. This will also lead to a professional reunion with Abhishek Nayar, and so a coaching synergy that has been successful in the past has also been revived.
When the BCCI is going into bilateral commitments (which will include a Test series with Sri Lanka), it will be hard not to look at the structure of the national coaching team to make sure the team is in place. Whether ten Doeschate’s departure is a signal for a more balanced team management or it’s just the end of a long contract cycle, it opens up a new chapter for Indian cricket and the careers involved. At the same time, making these transitions clear and in line with the team’s objectives for the future is most crucial.
