ENG vs IND 2025: 'We want more runs from the three' - Ryan ten Doeschate clears air over Karun Nair's selection in Manchester Test

India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate expressed his views regarding the Indian team's performance in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. The Asian giants are trailing 1-2 in the five-match series, having suffered an agonising 22-run defeat in the most recent third Test at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London.

A lot of debate has been around Karun Nair's spot in the side. The 33-year-old made a comeback into India's playing XI in red-ball cricket after a gap of eight years. However, he hasn't been able to establish himself as a reliable option in the batting department, scoring just 131 runs from six innings at an average of 21.83.

The former Netherlands all-rounder, ten Doeschate, said that the team is in good spirits even after being down in the series. He admitted that the team management is looking for more runs from the top three batters, but he mentioned that Nair is in good rhythm.

"That might be counter-intuitive when you're 2-1 down in the series. But we feel like the guys have been excellent for large parts of the series. The repetition of losing lots of wickets in a very short space of time has obviously been the key feature of the two losses. Probably both times in Headingley and obviously overnight and first thing in the morning at Lord's, we feel cost us the game was losing six wickets for 40 again. But if you look at it individually, if you look at the run tally of all the batters they're all batting nicely," he told the reporters on Thursday, July 17.

"Even someone like Karun, we feel his rhythm is good, his tempo is good. We want more runs from the three. But the message is mainly, let's really focus on what we've done well and tidy up the little things that have cost us results, essentially," ten Doeschate added.

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Deep Dasgupta backs Sai Sudharsan's inclusion for fourth Test

Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta feels that the young and talented Sai Sudharsan could be brought back into the side in place of Nair after the southpaw was left out following his debut in the first Test at Headingley, where he registered scores of 0 and 30.

"You are still in it very much in the series so because even this Test match at Lord's was extremely close. It could have gone either way," Dasgupta was quoted as saying by NDTV Sports.

"But what I would be looking at is at number three. Would Karun Nair still continue or you want to invest in a young player like Sai Sudharsan who looked comfortable in the last innings that he played in that first Test match? He is young and investment for the future," he added.