India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has commented on Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson calling Mohammad Nawaz the best spinner in the world. India and Pakistan are set to clash in the Asia Cup 2025 on Sunday, September 14 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Ahead of the fixture, Ryan ten Doeschate was asked about the mind games being played by the Pakistan head coach.
Reacting to Mike Hesson’s statement, Doeschate acknowledged that spin will play a major role in the tournament. He stated that the team has full faith in their spin trio of Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav. The India assistant coach mentioned that Mike Hesson is entitled to his opinion and can rank his players wherever he wishes.
“I think spinners are going to be very important in this competition. If anything, I don’t think it has gripped as much as we anticipated and certainly not like it did earlier in the year when we were here. But spin in general has become a very important part of T20 cricket, and both teams have a lot of spin on offer. And we certainly know we feel about Varun Axar and Kuldeep, so everyone’s entitled to their opinion, and they can rank their players wherever they wish,” said Ryan ten Doeschate in the pre-match press conference.
Hesson rated Mohammad Nawaz as the best spinner in the world ahead of their opening fixture in the Asia Cup 2025 against Oman. The left-arm spinner bowled Pakistan to victory in the recent tri-series final against Afghanistan. Nawaz picked up a five-wicket haul (5/19), including a hat-trick, to guide his team to a massive 75-run victory.
As a result, he was adjudged Player of the Match and also Player of the series for scalping ten wickets from five innings. On the other hand, India also boast a formidable spin attack consisting of Kuldeep, Axar and Varun. While Axar and Kuldeep played a key role in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 victory, Chakravarthy has made a remarkable comeback to international cricket.
The wrist spinner is the highest wicket-taker in the shortest format among full member nations since his comeback, having 32 wickets to his name from just 13 innings. Hence, the Indian spinners are expected to have the upper hand in the upcoming fixture. However, Pakistan are also expected to field a spin-heavy attack against India like their first fixture against Oman.
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