Really proud of how the guys carried themselves despite the pressure: India's assistant coach

Dubai, Sep 24 (IANS) India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doechate on Tuesday hailed his players for their composed reaction to provocative gestures and abusive language by Pakistan players in their Asia Cup Super 4s match on Sunday.

With India winning their first match in the Asia Cup, the Pakistani players made provocative gestures even as the Indians played brilliant cricket to win the match by six wickets.

Pakistani batter Sahibzada Farhan made a provocative gesture of firing a gun with his bat after reaching his half-century, while Haris Rauf made a controversial gesture of an airplane falling, referring to Pakistan's false claims of bringing down Indian fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.

As the Indians kept their cool and replied with their performances, ten Doechate praised his players for their impeccable behaviour.

"We're really proud of how the guys carried themselves despite the pressure. The amount of pressure that's been heaped on the players because of the situation, you know, it's very difficult to control your behavior. I did see some of the things Harris did and, you know, that's not our concern," said the India assistant coach.

"They fought fire with their bats in the field, and you know, other teams, I'm sure, they have issues with some of the things we've done. But from our side, we are delighted with how our guys have carried themselves in the tournament," said Ryan ten Doechte.

The Indian assistant coach confirmed that the Indian think tank is considering Sanju Samson as the No.5 batter despite the batter, usually a top-order batter, struggling to score in the match against Pakistan.

With the selectors opting for Shubman Gill as vice-captain and opener to partner Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson has no option but to agree to the No.5 spot, as Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma are well entrenched in the No.3 and No.4 positions.

Ryan de Doechate said the team management is confident that Samson will find his way in this situation and make the most of the opportunities that come his way.

"So, we believe Sanju is the best man for that job and we've got no doubt that he'll figure out how to play that role in the future," he said.

--IANS

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