We know how we feel about Varun, Kuldeep, Axar, Pakistan can do their own rankings: Ten Doeschate

Dubai, Sep 13 (PTI) Mike Hesson is free to rank Pakistan left-arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz as high as he wants but India know where Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel are placed in world order, Indian team fielding coach Ryan Ten Doeschate said on Saturday.

Couple of days back, Pakistan head coach Hesson had said that Nawaz is the best spinner in the world although his ICC T20I ranking, despite his five-wicket haul in tri-nations final, stands at a modest 30.

"We know how we feel about Varun, Axar and Kuldeep, so everyone's entitled to their opinion. They can rank their players wherever they wish," Ten Doeschate told mediapersons on the eve of Sunday's India-Pakistan clash.

Ten Doeschate, known for his plainspeak, wasn't even diplomatic while terming India as favourites going into the game.

"Yeah, I think being totally honest, I would say India do start favourites tomorrow. We will be focused on the 120 balls with the bat and the 120 balls with the ball and the team that is more consistent over those 240 balls will be better.

"So we are under no illusion as to the task ahead and a big part of what we try to do in looking forward is to stay grounded and just focus on getting better, individuals getting better every day." He also was clear that India are more likely to carry on with an unchanged eleven.

"We are unlikely to make (any) changes. The wickets have played a bit differently compared to the Champions Trophy, but the combination we had for the first game (UAE) was the right set-up." He also stressed, like Sitanshu Kotak, that batting slots from Nos 3 to 7 will be flexible.

"From 3 to 7, the overriding principle is that we want versatile players who can play differently in different situations but also bat at different positions. It will be part of our strategy to use the versatility." Ten Doeschate, however, praised Pakistan's changed template of playing T20 cricket, with more aggression coming into play.

"Pakistan has also started to come to terms with how they want to play T20 cricket. So it's going to be a slightly different challenge from over the last 24 months. We want to focus on what we are doing and how we want to play." While both teams will have three spinners each, Ten Doeschate believes that the pitch isn't gripping much.

"If anything, I don't think it's gripped as much as we had anticipated, certainly not like earlier in the year when we were here. But spin in general has become a very important part of T20 cricket. Both teams have a lot of spin on offer." PTI KHS PDS KHS PDS PDS