Netherlands Skipper Eyes "Massive Opportunity" Against India in T20 World Cup Clash

Netherlands will be aiming to bow out of the tournament with their heads held high, hoping to create some upset against India or at least give them a massive scare ahead of the all-important Super Eight stage during their clash on Wednesday. The Dutch are at the second place, with a win over Namibia and losses to Pakistan and USA.

Speaking during the pre-match presser, Edwards said, "It is obviously a massive opportunity. I think it is the biggest stadium in the world. So, to be playing against India in India at the biggest stadium is something all the guys are really looking forward to. It is a great opportunity to test yourselves against the best. I think cricket is growing in the Netherlands. Obviously, soccer is the main sport and we probably will never get to that level (of India), but for us it is just promoting the game and hopefully our performances can help grow that game in the Netherlands."

Speaking on playing in T20 World Cups since 2009 and having got major upset wins over South Africa and England, Edwards pointed out the "difficulties around associate cricket" and Netherlands having "punched above their weight".

"I think we have played a lot of good cricket through World Cups. I think to get to the next level, a lot of it comes down to more opportunities against test playing nations. However that comes about, there is obviously restrictions with funding for us and those sort of things, but that is not really under our control. For us, it is just playing our best cricket when we can on the world stage and hopefully that gives us opportunities," he added.

Having first made headlines during the 2009 T20 WC with a shocking win over England, Netherlands have participated in every T20 World Cup since the 2014 edition, with the eighth place finish in 2022 edition out of 16 teams being their best finish. In that tournament, they had close matches with Sri Lanka (losing by 16 runs in chase of 163) and later in Super 12 stage, losing to Bangladesh by nine runs while chasing 145 runs. Winning this match would have placed them in contention for the semifinal spot with Pakistan, who reached that stage with six points under their belt, while Netherlands ended with four points in five matches.

On their loss to the USA at Chennai four days back, where they crumbled to 103 all out while chasing 197 runs, Edwards admitted that the team did not play its best cricket.

"USA, I thought they played quite well. It is obviously disappointing. It pretty much leaves us out of this competition. But for us, we move on to this game. Obviously, playing against India in Ahmedabad with what will probably be a massive crowd. So yeah, the boys have moved on and we are looking forward to that," he added.

Squads:

Netherlands Squad: Michael Levitt, Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards(w/c), Zach Lion-Cachet, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Fred Klaassen, Noah Croes, Saqib Zulfiqar, Paul van Meekeren, Timm van der Gugten

India Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh.

- ANI