World Cup Teams Watch - Netherlands: A study of the dark horse spirit embodied by individualistic brilliance

When it comes to the associate nations who will be present at the World Cup, Netherlands have been the pennant-bearers of late after they gatecrashed West Indies’ World Cup party with a magnificent Super Over win in the Qualifiers. However, that victory was simply a blazing testimony to their never-say-die attitude and since then the Orange Army have made their presence felt in the brightest of liveries.

At the end of the World Cup qualifiers, Netherlands found themselves ahead of three full member nations, which was nothing short of an imposition in the fabric of cricket from the rising stars as part of the Orange Army. Ireland, West Indies and Zimbabwe were agonizingly trailing the Netherlands, who succeeded in their relentless pursuit of a ticket for top-flight cricket at the World Cup.

This will be their fifth World Cup appearance since their debut in 1996 where they were off to a disastrous start with five defeats from five games. Seven years later, in 2003, the statistics did change for them with one victory from six games. In 2007, they were decent in the group stages with one win from three games but it wasn’t enough to brave the might of Australia and South Africa, two superpowers in world cricket.

Their last appearance in the tournament fizzled into another mortifying fiasco as they finished at the rock-bottom of Group B in the 2011 World Cup with six defeats from six games. Surprisingly, their return to the grandest stage of all will be unfurling in India, the same country in which they last featured in a World Cup.

Recent Form:

In recent times, the Netherlands cricket team has proven to be one of those dark horses who can stun any given world power in their heyday. Despite both of their warm-up games getting washed out, their bowlers pulled off a phenomenal job of running the Australian batting unit to the wire, restricting them to 166/7 from 23 overs as the trio of Roelof van der Merwe, Bas de Leede and Logan van Beek plundered six wickets between them.

Back in July, Netherlands seemed to be in fine touch as they outlasted West Indies in a pulsating encounter, smashing 374 to tie the game first and then an explosive showdown by Logan van Beek blew away the latter to absolute smithereens.

They also made a mockery of Scotland’s bowling as a monumental total of 278 was chased down within 43 overs, numbers that would make you believe that they are a couple of touches above the associate nations for the time being and they can be an intimidating unit to watch out for.

X-Factors:

Teja Nidamanuru, right-hand batter

Teja is one of those Netherlands cricketers who holds a day job as he is a product manager for a technology company while he also proudly sports the national jersey in the gruelling game of cricket. He became the first centurion for the Dutchmen since 2014 with a knock that came in March this year and then doubled it up with another blistering ton three months later against West Indies.

Bas de Leede, all-rounder

Bas de Leede has been touted as one of the most sensational youngsters in the side and he is carrying his father’s legacy forward in even better fashion. He impressed the world with his stints in ILT20 and the Hundred. In 2023, he is the leading wicket-taker for his country with 15 scalps at an average of 22.13 while smashing a century against Scotland in the qualifiers.

Logan van Beek, all-rounder

Logan van Beek is an example of a cricketer gifted with some sensational all-round abilities. His stints in the fabric of county cricket for Worcestershire has propelled him to the forefront of the Netherlands bowling unit. Figures of eight wickets against Glamorgan from two innings combined scores of 53 and 41* in his last ten innings across all formats makes him a forerunner of the surprise that he brings to the fore. Also, come pressure, he shines even brighter. Ask Jason Holder, who was  still shies away from the hallowed name of van Beek.

Areas to work on:

The side comprises an excellent mix of experienced and youth players and more importantly, they have proven their mettle in the absence of the seasoned cricketers as well. However, when it comes to a tournament like the World Cup, particularly the one about to kickstart from tomorrow, it is a long-haul marathon of 10 group league fixtures that will test every team to its very core. For any team to come good in this tournament, one needs to be mentally and physically prepared. Although Netherlands have grabbed some big wins, they haven’t been challenged by higher-ranked teams in full 50-over contests, which is a different ballgame altogether. They are a team that thrives on individual brilliance and that can only get you across the line for a couple of games, and they will need to figure out a way to stitch together individual performances.

Squad for World Cup:

Scott Edwards (C & WK), Colin Ackermann, Shariz Ahmad, Wesley Barresi, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Ryan Klein, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O'Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Saqib Zulfiqar