T20 World Cup: India Will Attack for All 20 Overs vs WI — Ryan Ten Doeschate

T20 World Cup: India won't look to contain West Indies' big hitters, but will aim for wickets instead.

T20 World Cup 2026: Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate spoke about India's plans against West Indies.

(Photo: PTI)

A constant feature in the initial years of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has been the West Indian batters tormenting some of the most decorated bowling units in the world at the time. In 2007, a South African bowling unit featuring Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel conceded 205 runs against Chris Gayle & Co. Five years later, an Australian bowling unit which featured the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Brad Hogg also conceded 205 runs.

The tradition came to an abrupt halt when the team experienced a major decline in recent years, but under the guidance of Daren Sammy, West Indies cricket has rediscovered its sheen. And with it, the knack for scoring big. In the ongoing T20 World Cup, West Indies have scored over 170 runs on four occasions, which includes 254 runs against Zimbabwe.

In this scenario, how will the Indian bowling unit, which has not been at its best in this competition — conceding 176 against the Netherlands and 184 against Zimbabwe — contain West Indies?

India’s Batting & Bowling Approach Against West Indies

The team’s assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate was asked his question ahead of what will be a virtual quarter-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, on Sunday, 1 March. He answered — India’s focus is not on containing. Instead, they want to take wickets.

I don't think there are many lineups that can boast Romario Shephard walking in at number nine. So you have to focus on taking wickets. I think that old-school way of just containing in T20 cricket has gone out. We feel West Indies player a risk-reward game of high proportion in both aspects of that. And as a bowling unit, we we're looking forward to that challenge. We know where we can get wickets. The surface looks pretty good, so it could be a high-scoring game.

Ryan ten Doeschate

In terms of their batting approach, India’s plan is to do a West Indies — that is, attack for 20 overs straight.

Our plan tomorrow will be to attack the whole 20 overs and peg them back in that way, much like South Africa did. It is certainly going to be a challenge. The surface looks pretty good, so it could be a high-scoring game. As well as throwing punches with the ball, we're going to have to make sure that we're brave with the bat as well and maintain a high strike rate and high intent throughout the innings as well. I think the challenge is that they are a very good T20 side. They possess power as good as any of the best teams in the world. And I guess what you know about the West Indies when they come to a t20 competition they give absolutely everything. This is their moment their big moment in their calendar like I said, it's a challenge. We relishing we're going to fight fire with fire tomorrow, and I'm expecting a really good game out there.

Ryan ten Doeschate

Ten Doeschate Highlights Versatility in the Indian Batting Unit

After a deflating 76-run defeat to South Africa, which also was their biggest defeat in terms of runs in the history of this competition, India made a statement return to normalcy when they defeated Zimbabwe by 72 runs in Chennai. Arguably, the most reassuring aspect from that victory was India’s batting, which scored 256/4 after being bowled out for 111 by the Proteas.

On that performance, and specifically on the versatility in batting unit, ten Doeschate elaborated:

I think it's a testament to the players that they adapted so well (against Zimbabwe). We've always spoken about versatility and being able to play different roles and in different circumstances. I thought the other night in Chennai was a good example of that. I thought Tilak looked really good at five or six where he came in, in that role for someone who's batted three for the majority of the last 18 months. I thought he did fantastically well. And now we've got options going into this last phase of the tournament against West Indies. Certainly, Sanju coming back after sitting on the side for so long, he looked in good touch. He made some good choices, and he got us out the blocks quickly. And it wasn't a scorecard that was dominated by anyone, but everyone chipped in. And that's sort of our modus operandi. We just want guys to focus on partnerships and keep the rate going quickly throughout the innings and everyone did really well at that the other night.

Ryan ten Doeschate

In conclusion, he affirmed that India is ready for the challenge against fellow two-time champions.

The team is very prepared. These are professionals who live for these moments. It was a quick turnaround from the disappointment of South Africa. I thought the guys regrouped really well in the prep in Chennai for those couple of days and we've had a nice day off yesterday. It was a travel day, and you'll see nearly everyone's here today for the optional session.

Ryan ten Doeschate