Former cricketer Priyank Panchal was not pleased with the comments India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate had passed on about Rohit Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy during a recent press conference. Ten Doeschate had commented on the duo following the second ODI of the three-match series against New Zealand in Rajkot.
For the unversed, ten Doeschate had recently pointed to Rohit's lack of touch ahead of the series for being the reason behind his underwhelming outings in the first two ODIs. Regarding
Reddy, the 45-year-old had noted that the all-rounder failed to make the most of the situation despite being granted a golden chance to make a mark after being played in the second ODI.
In the aftermath of the assistant coach's comments, Panchal was critical of the sensitivity of the former Netherlands cricketer's remarks and felt the lack of understanding with the Indian cricketing ethos was the main reason why overseas coaches never found a lot of success during their coaching tenure with the Indian cricket team.
"Terrible comments by Ten Doeschate on Rohit and Nitish. There’s a reason foreign coaches don’t succeed in India. The dexterity you require to navigate through relationships here is lacking in them. Especially if they don’t have anything notable to show in their CV," Panchal wrote on his official 'X' handle.
Check Panchal's X post here
Terrible comments by Ten Doeschate on Rohit and Nitish. There’s a reason foreign coaches don’t succeed in India. The dexterity you require to navigate through relationships here is lacking in them. Especially if they don’t have anything notable to show in their CV. #INDvNZ
— Priyank Panchal (@PKpanchal09) January 18, 2026
Rohit's scores read 26 and 24 in the first two matches. Reddy scored 20 and bowled a couple of overs conceding 13 in Rajkot. India enter the third ODI on the back of a win in Vadodara and a defeat in Rajkot. The third match will be played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium on January 18. The Men in Blue won the toss and elected to field first, with Arshdeep Singh coming into the XI in the place of Prasidh Krishna.
The ODIs will be followed up by five T20Is. The 20-over leg is scheduled to commence on January 21 in Nagpur. India's next assignment after the white-ball series will be to play as defending champions of the T20 World Cup, which will be played across February and March.
