Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate delivered a brutal reality check following India’s 76-run thrashing at the hands of South Africa. The defeat, which ended a 12-match winning streak, has left the defending champions’ campaign on life support.

Speaking to reporters in post-match presser, ten Doeschate admitted that management’s tactical gambles had backfired spectacularly, particularly the decision to bench vice-captain Axar Patel. The Indian coach also highlighted that Indian camp is allowed to have a bad day, especially at this competitive phase of the tournament, protecting the Indian camp from public scrutiny after the Ahemedabad loss.

Don't Expect The World Cup Halfway From The Players

Ten Doeschate was quick to shut down any sense of entitlement within the squad. With the Net Run Rate plummeting to a disastrous -3.800, the coach made it clear that the path to defending the title in 2026 was never going to be easy.

"Very disappointed with the performance. But, when you set up or set out to win a World Cup, don't expect someone to come deliver the World Cup to you halfway through the competition.

So we understand we've made a lot of mistakes tonight. We understand you’re probably allowed one mess-up in this phase of the competition," ten Doeschate told reporters in the press conference.

He didn't stop there, acknowledging the sheer scale of the failure in Ahmedabad:

"We've messed up on a grand scale, and now the onus is on this group of guys to turn around and put in two solid performances against Zimbabwe and the West Indies," he added.

Assitant Coach On Axar Patel's Omission 

The decision to pick Washington Sundar over Axar Patel was rooted in a pre-match analysis of South Africa’s left-hander-heavy top order. However, the plan unravelled when the planned matchups never materialized.

"In our analysis, we thought the biggest threat was going to come from Quinton and Ryan Rickleton and David Miller... we feel we've got Washi to a point where he's found a way of being effective in the powerplay.

He obviously didn't bowl in the powerplay tonight, so it looks like we've purely gone on who's going to bowl through the middle, in which case you would choose Axar," ten Doeschate explained.

Assistent Coach On Abhishek’s Health Battle

Addressing the "batting crisis" that has seen India lose early wickets in three of their last five games, the coach revealed that Abhishek Sharma’s preparation was hampered by a bout of food poisoning.

"I certainly won't make excuses for Abhi or Tilak...

but I think Abhi's preparation coming into the World Cup with the food poisoning that he had at one stage has obviously hampered his progress... when you score three zeros, that is going to start weighing on you," he stated.

With a must-win clash against Zimbabwe looming on February 26 in Chennai, the assistant coach has signaled that it is "time to pull our sleeves up," hinting that the management may finally "twist" the lineup to include Sanju Samson.