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T20 World Cup: Netherlands run into upbeat India
Upsets and rain seem to be the order of the day at the T20 World Cup so far and that should be enough to ensure India don't take things easy.
Ireland have defeated England. The day before, Zimbabwe split points with South Africa after rain intervened. There is a chance of rain and severe thunderstorm on Thursday when the Netherlands face India for the first time in a T20I. India are runaway favourites but so fickle has this T20 World Cup that nothing can be ruled out. India are keeping their foot on the gas, insisting there would be no change in personnel from their win against Pakistan.
The Netherlands have been keeping their chin up too. At different times their captain Scott Edwards was asked what it meant to play India, against Virat Kohli and whether it was an audition for the IPL. The only Associates team in the Super 12, Netherlands are not exactly new to these surroundings. But they are understandably in awe of one of the best teams in the world. "It's huge," said Edwards. "You always dream of playing World Cups, and the SCG is one of the most famous grounds in the world. And then adding you're playing against arguably one of the best teams in the world, yes, it's pretty surreal."
But that is that. The Netherlands are not taking this match any differently. “I think you're playing against the team you're playing against. You do your analyses. You prepare how you prepare against any team. It's obviously a high-quality unit. So we're just looking forward to going out and playing, hopefully putting a good performance on the board.”
What puts them in good stead is the ODI World Cup Super League where the Netherlands played some top-tier teams before playing New Zealand in two close T20Is. “That's probably where the Super League was so good,” Edwards said. “We didn't have a lot of our county guys around that period, which made it hard to win games. But it gave a lot of our younger guys an opportunity, which I think a lot of them showed they were capable of performing and coming up against these bigger, better players.”
The squad is a mix of experience and youth. There are exciting new players like Bas de Leede, only 22, who is not only a good bat but can also bowl medium-pace. Tom Cooper, 35, has scored three consecutive fifties against Pakistan in August, is a former Australia U-19 and NSW Blues player. In the 37-year-old Roelof van der Merwe, Netherlands have another experienced hand. “Tom, he's obviously great to have on the squad,” said Edwards. “He hasn't got the runs this tournament. But hopefully, this is the game that he can get going. Both of them bring a wealth of experience in T20 cricket. That's huge for our guys, especially looking at, we've got three or four guys that are under 21 years old. They're massive to have around the group and great for morale.”
The game is growing in the Netherlands. When they started playing the Super League, it was the first time they had played on Dutch national television. Edwards is hoping that this T20 World Cup acts as a fillip to this momentum. A good show against India can only help. “The crowds we're getting in are a lot bigger than we've ever had before. It's definitely growing. But in Europe, it's obviously a small sport. The better we do in these tournaments, the more popular and the more exposure the sport gets. Hopefully, we can cause a couple of upsets, and there's even more exposure there.”
