Report reveals why Ryan ten Doeschate never became India's fielding coach

In a series of interesting events, it has been reported that India's men's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate is thinking to step away from his role after a failed move of transition into the team's specialist fielding coach.

Ryan ten Doeschate's curious case in Indian team

As per a latest report by PTI, ten Doeschate , who was brought into the Indian team setup after Gautam Gambhir's recommendation was supposed to oversee the team's fielding unit. However, T Dilip's contract extension following the 2025 Champions Trophy meant he had to continue in that role, leaving the former Netherlands all-rounder without a clearly designated responsibility within the support staff.

If these claims are true, it would contradict earlier reports that Ryan wanted to leave the Indian setup because of personal reasons. The former Netherlands player had a brilliant spell with KKR as fielding coach in the 2024 season. However, after joining the Indian team, he was assigned as the side's assistant coach, sharing the role with Abhishek Nayar.

The report claims that ten Doeschate wanted to have a bigger role after the Champions Trophy triumph, as T Dilip, along with Abhishek Nayar, Soham Desai and Arun Kanade was supposed to leave the setup. However, T Dilip retained his position.

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"For Dilip, a strong recommendation came from a senior player, and Dilip got a one-year extension, and Tendo actually didn’t have any specific domain role. He is a fantastic coach, who hasn’t been used because Dilip is there," the source said to the PTI.

As per the reports, Doeschate wants to return to IPL and has informed the BCCI about his desire to leave and started discussions with a franchise. However, the board will have no problem in retaining him, but it all depends on if Gambhir can convince him to continue at his current role.

The report further claims that after India's poor fielding performance in the recently concluded T20I series against England has increased the scrutiny around T Dilip's future. At the same time, If Ryan decides to step away, then BCCI may have to continue with Dilip in the role, at least temporarily, unless a new candidate for the job appears.