We could've done better nailing down No.3 spot – Ryan ten Doeschate

Ahead of the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Mullanpur from June 6, India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitted the team could have done better solidifying the crucial No.3 batting spot in Tests.

Following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India's first-choice openers have been Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, with Shubman Gill at No.4. The No.3 position has seen a revolving door of candidates: Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, and Karun Nair (in England) have made unconvincing claims.

In the last Test assignment, India tried Washington Sundar at No.3 against South Africa in Kolkata. In the second Test in Guwahati, Sudharsan returned with Gill sidelined by injury. Six months on, ten Doeschate indicated whoever gets the role now will receive "a bit of a rope."

"Yeah, there's been a lot of changes in that spot and that's not ideal. I think you need to look at the incumbents for that role and maybe stick with someone. It's a difficult position to bat and a very important position to bat."

Schedule complications complicate matters. After this Test, India's next red-ball assignment is in late August in Sri Lanka, with just two Tests. Ten Doeschate suggested the choice could be between Padikkal and Sudharsan. Padikkal has batted No.3 in two of his three Test innings, scoring a 23-ball duck and 25 (71). Sudharsan has played all 11 innings at No.3, scoring 302 runs at an average of 27.85 with two half-centuries.

"Dev comes in with a ton of runs in domestic cricket across all formats and Sai's got a nice IPL with Gujarat, so they're both in good form. Whoever plays will be given a bit of rope. It's difficult with one Test match now, then two months off, then two Tests, then another break. We need to factor that in but the main point is we want to make a decision and trust that person to grow into the role quickly because where we find ourselves in the WTC table, we don't have time to bet now. It's probably something we could have done better leading up to this is nailing down that No.3 spot."

India enter this Test just five days after the IPL final, with six squad members involved, including the captain. Ten Doeschate acknowledged the challenge of switching sleep cycles from late-night T20 matches to morning Test cricket in 34-35°C heat.

"You're playing in the IPL final five days ago at night-time and now you've got to start a Test match early in the morning at 34, 35 degrees. Just another challenge and the guys will take it on. My job is to prepare the players. Sleep cycle is top of that list and that's been addressed."

He called the transition a process of "detoxing" players: "From a white to red-ball perspective or IPL to Test match cricket, it's really about detoxing them. These three days have been about that. We want to make sure guys are making decisions based on where the ball is pitched, with technical tweaks on setup and bat shape. The last two days have been about putting white ball habits to bed and focusing on proper Test cricket again."