‘Siraj bowled yesterday, he looked absolutely fine’, says ten Doeschate ahead of Afghanistan Test

assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate confirmed Mohammed Siraj is fully fit for Saturday’s one-off Test against Afghanistan. India is focusing on adjusting player sleep cycles and shifting tactical mindsets from T20 cricket back to red-ball discipline

New Chandigarh:  India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate on Thursday confirmed that pacer Mohammed Siraj looked “absolutely fine” during training as the squad ramps up preparations for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, starting this Saturday.

The hosting Indian side faces a tight five-day turnaround from the conclusion of the IPL 2026 season to play what is only their second-ever Test match against Afghanistan. Because this fixture falls outside the ongoing ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, the team management is treating it as an opportunity to integrate fresh talent. A key decision involves finalizing the spin-bowling combination, with domestic standouts Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar vying for a spot in the absence of a rested Ravindra Jadeja.

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“Siraj bowled yesterday, he looked absolutely fine. It’s been great having some fresh faces around,” ten Doeschate told reporters during a press conference.

“The chances of both [Dubey and Suthar] playing in the Test are probably pretty small. We haven’t finalized the combination, but I would imagine Kuldeep [Yadav] will play, Washi [Washington Sundar] will play, and then one of those two will join them. We also have seven guys in the squad from Gujarat Titans (GT) who played an uphill final just five days ago. Our main job right now is to freshen the guys up and get them ready for a Test match starting in a couple of days.”

Addressing wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant’s leadership role following his recent removal from the official vice-captaincy, ten Doeschate insisted that formal designations are secondary in the current team culture.

“I don’t think you need a formal title to be a leader in a setup like this. Rishabh understands that, and he’s committed to being a strong role model and senior player,” ten Doeschate said. “I actually heard him and Gauti [head coach Gautam Gambhir] having a chat around that yesterday—discussing how you want to conduct yourself as a senior player, extending from your communication to how you approach the game.”

The assistant coach emphasized that the team does not want to diminish Pant’s natural attacking brilliance. “Occasionally, if he can adjust his game to play the situation slightly more, I think that’s something you’ll see him work on. But he’s been in great spirits. He always drives the energy in the team. You’ve got no complaints from him, and you wouldn’t even notice that his role in the leadership structure has changed.”

Ten Doeschate also addressed the perennially unsettled number three batting slot, which has seen repeated experimentation since the transition away from veteran Cheteshwar Pujara.

“There’s been a lot of changes in that spot and that’s not ideal. We need to look at the incumbents for that role and stick with someone. Devdutt Padikkal comes in with a ton of runs in domestic cricket across all formats, and Sai Sudharsan is in excellent form after a great IPL with Gujarat. Whoever plays will be given a bit of rope,” he noted.

The immediate challenge for management is navigating a sporadic red-ball schedule. “It’s quite difficult with one Test match now, then we don’t play a Test for another two months, followed by a quick two-Test series. We need to factor that in. But the main point is we want to make a firm decision and trust that person to grow into the role quickly. Where we find ourselves in the WTC table demands it—we don’t have time to let people slowly bed in. Securing that number three spot is something we could have handled better leading up to this.”

A major portion of the immediate preparation involves helping the players “detox” from short-form Twenty20 habits and reset their internal sleep cycles after months of late-night IPL schedules.

“The IPL time cycle is completely different from what Test matches require, and the guys have had only three days to adapt,” ten Doeschate explained. “Adrian le Roux [strength and conditioning coach] scheduled some early morning gym sessions just to force the guys to get up and adjust their internal clocks. I’ve seen plenty of them down in the breakfast room early the last couple of days. They are elite professionals and know how to make sure they are ready for an early Saturday morning start in 34 to 35-degree heat.”

Signaling the tactical shift required for the five-day format, ten Doeschate concluded: “Our job is really about detoxing them from a white-to-red ball perspective. Those high-risk habits required to succeed in T20 cricket must be put to bed so they can focus on playing proper Test cricket again. The last few days have been entirely about making technical tweaks on how you set up, how you maintain your bat shape, and making patient decisions based strictly on where the ball is pitched.”