The Netherlands team for the 2024 T20 World Cup was revealed on Monday by the KNCB. The team that competed in the 50-over World Cup the previous year is mostly similar to the one that Scott Edwards will lead from behind the stumps once more. The forthcoming T20 Tri-series between Scotland and Ireland is anticipated to feature a very comparable team, however a few players’ availability has not yet been verified.
The most obvious absence is definitely Durham’s Colin Ackermann, a top-order batsman who is in form and has made his new county’s T20 Blast obligations his first priority. Although the Dutch have plenty of southpaw finger spinners, experienced left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe will stay with Somerset.
Tim Pringle, the son of legendary Dutch club cricket player Chris Pringle and former New Zealand international Tim Pringle, is back in the team after missing the previous World Cup due to injury. Daniel Doram, another left-arm spinner who last played for the Dutch more than ten years ago, is also back in the team after a much longer absence. The Dutch will not have a full-time wrist-spin option as neither legspinner Saqib Zulfiqar nor googly specialist Shariz Ahmad made the cut. Aryan Dutt will continue to be the starting right-arm finger-spinner.
Despite a bad run of form with the bat, veteran opener Max O’Dowd is still in the lineup, providing a leg-spin option on a part-time basis if necessary. Michael Levitt and Vikram Singh are the other possibilities at the top of the order. In addition to their primary function as batsmen, Sybrand Engelbrecht and Teja Nidamanuru provide off-spin options. Veteran Wesley Barresi can also play a similar role and has opened and maintained wicket in the past.
The batting is somewhat deeper thanks to seam all-rounders Bas de Leede and Logan van Beek, but there has been intense battle for the spots held by the remaining seam bowlers. Despite securing a spot on the plane, Kyle Klein’s impressive performance in the KNCB Pro-Series did not get him a spot in the squad. He took 14 wickets from five matches at an economy rate of 4.7 and an average of 4.64. The only other left-arm seamer in the squad is Fred Klaassen, while Paul van Meekeren and Vivian Kingma, who impressed on the Netherlands’ most recent international tour to Nepal, are also included.
Beginning on May 18, the Netherlands will host four Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against Ireland and Scotland as part of the Nordek T20 Tri-series. While the availability of the whole team has not been confirmed, all players except van Meekeren, de Leede, and Klaassen are currently in the Netherlands. After that, the Dutch will head to the United States, where they will play two official warm-up matches at Lauderhill versus Sri Lanka, followed by a trip to Dallas, Canada, where on June 4th they will play their first group encounter against Nepal.
The team we have chosen is well-balanced, and we are optimistic that it will be able to play in the given conditions against the opposition we face in the US and the West Indies,” stated head coach Ryan Cook. The players have been working hard and participating in the recent ProSeries, where they have put up some thrilling performances that demonstrate the increasing calibre and depth of cricket in the Netherlands. In the last two World Cups we have played in, we have performed wonderfully, and we are motivated to overcome the obstacles in our way to go to the next stage of the competition.”
Max O’Dowd, Vikram Singh, Michael Levitt, Wesley Barresi, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Bas de Leede, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Aryan Dutt, Daniel Doram, Frederick Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren, and Vivian Kingma are the members of the Netherlands squad for the T20 World Cup.
Reserve Traveller: Kyle Klein
The Dutch team for the T20 Tri-Series:to be verified.
