After a 12-year absence, the Netherlands will participate in the World Cup for ODIs. The Dutch team competed in the World Cup Qualifier with excellence and finished as runners-up. They were able to qualify for the ODI World Cup 2023 because of their outstanding performance in the competition.
The Dutch team, captained by Scott Edwards, will strive to be competitive against powerful opponents. They defeated the West Indies in the one-over elimination round of the World Cup qualifier. The Men in Orange attracted a lot of attention in 2018 after defeating South Africa in the T20 World Cup. In the World Cup 2023, they’ll try to knock down elite teams with their brilliance as well.
ODI World Cup 2023:
The Dutch squad has never prevailed in a World Cup matchup against a strong opponent, but this time, they have some outstanding skills that can cause problems for the other nine teams. In order to further our discussion, let’s examine the Orange Army’s SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats).
SWOT analysis:
Strengths:
All-Rounders: The 15-person Netherlands team includes several talented all-arounders. In all areas of the sport, Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackerman, Bas de Leede, Sybrand Engelbrecht, and Saqib Zulfiqar do their duties effectively. With both bat and ball in the 2023 World Cup Qualifier, Leede exuded assurance. The 23-year-old scored 285 runs in seven games while taking 15 wickets in the bowling department to finish as the competition’s third-leading wicket-taker.
Spin-Bowling: The Dutch team appears to have a good spin. In the World Cup, spinners like Van der Merwe, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmed, and Aryan Dutt will try to benefit from India’s turning pitches and deliver the necessary results for their country.
Weaknesses:
Batter’s struggle: India will host the 2023 World Cup, where spinners are anticipated to wreak havoc on hitters. The Netherlands’ performance against Sri Lanka in the World Cup Qualifier final is further evidence that their hitters struggle against spinners. The Dutch batsmen gave up in the decisive game while chasing an average total of 234 in front of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga. The Men in Orange will need to have a solid mental game to handle spinners in the massive ODI tournament that will soon begin.
Opportunities:
There are some cricketers from the Netherlands with international experience. Wesley Barresi, a wicketkeeper-batsman, Scott Edwards, Max O’Dowd, Paul van Meekeren, and Logan van Beek have all long served the team and have the ability to make their side’s 2023 World Cup campaign stand out.
Threats:
The Netherlands have never won a World Cup matchup against a top team, and this record could discourage them. It won’t be easy for the Dutch team to compete against Asian teams like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, and the Men in Orange will also face difficulties against Australia, England, New Zealand, and South Africa.
IND V/S Netherlands:
In two One-Day International matches, India defeated the Netherlands, with the former taking both games. In Paarl, South Africa, during the World Cup group stage of 2003, the two teams first came into contact. India scored 204 all out, which was below par, but won by 68 runs thanks to four-wicket hauls from Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble. They clashed once more during the 2011 World Cup, and India triumphed in Delhi by five wickets after chasing down the Netherlands’ 189 total in 36.3 overs.
The Indian national cricket team travels to Thiruvananthapuram in the aftermath of the Guwahati disaster with the hopes of playing the Netherlands there. The Indian squad arrived in Guwahati for their first ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 warm-up game after defeating Australia 2-1 in the three-match ODI series. However, the match against the reigning champions, England, was called off without a toss or a ball being bowled.
In Thiruvananthapuram, the Netherlands did play their exhibition game against Australia, although it was deemed a no-result owing to rain as well. Another Indian squad began their 2023 Asian Games men’s cricket campaign with a valiant quarterfinal victory against Nepal somewhere in China.
Netherlands Squad: Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Wesley Barresi, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (c & wk), Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmad, Aryan Dutt, Roelof van der Merwe, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Ryan Klein, Saqib Zulfiqar.
Indian Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
So, this was all about the ODI World Cup 2023 and the Netherlands SWOT analysis. Also read, Pakistani cricketers compare Hyderabadi & Karachi Biryani.
