Logan Van Beek Exclusive- "I Was Shocked To See India Lose In The World Cup Final"

It was 17th October 2023, when the Netherlands shook the entire cricket fraternity and sent a rousing statement that they were there to fight. The Dutch team crushed South Africa in the ICC World Cup 2023 fixture and asserted their authority on the world stage. 

The last year has been nothing short of exceptional for the Netherlands Cricket Team. The Dutch team has played a breathtaking brand of cricket and has pulled off quite a few upsets, which not only have surprised many but also helped them to progress to big stages by surpassing big teams. 

One of the key members behind the Netherlands’ success has been none other than all-rounder Logan van Beek. Had he not been there, the Dutch team arguably wouldn’t have been there where they are today. The lanky all-rounder stepped up on the big stages for his team and powered them to many famous wins. 

Logan van Beek did rounds first when he made fans, newspapers, and social media praise him after what he did in the ICC World Cup 2023 Qualifier game against West Indies. The game went down the wire and it saw super over being played. The Netherlands needed a superhero because the win not only would’ve eliminated West Indies but also would’ve powered them to the World Cup in India. 

Logan van Beek did something that many greats of the game couldn’t have. The right-hander slammed 30 runs in the super over against Jason Holder and made sure that the Netherlands put one foot in flight to India. The all-rounder went 4, 6, 4, 6, 6, 4 against experienced Holder to make history in Harare. He completely booked the World Cup spot for his team in the next 6 balls as he bowled well and defended the target.  

The Netherlands entered the World Cup as underdogs and no one even backed them to win even one game. However, they had belief in themselves and they stood on it. The Dutch side ended up winning two games in the tournament, defeating South Africa and Bangladesh. There was a stage where they were close to even sealing the Champions Trophy 2025 spot but it wasn’t meant to be as they fell short of the target by a whisker.

By their standards, it was nothing short of an exceptional campaign. To win two games in the World Cup against two Test-playing nations was testimony to the hard work they put in. Logan played a key role for his team in the tournament and was one of the key architects behind the team’s success in the event. 

His spell against South Africa potentially was game-changing as he made sure that he took his team home. The fast bowler bagged three wickets including that of David Miller, who looked threatening. Logan van Beek removed the South African batter with a peach and as he removed him, he knew the game was done. He ended with figures of 3/60 and helped his team win. 

The Netherlands beating South Africa was one of the highlights of the ICC World Cup 2023. The Dutch team along with Logan van Beek would be hoping to produce similar kinds of efforts in future events as well. They will be having an opportunity soon as they also have qualified for the T20 World Cup 2024, slated to be played in June next year. 

For that, the Dutch team has kept a goal and that is to reach the semi-final, as revealed by Logan van Beek. In an exclusive interview with CricketAddictor, the all-rounder talked about the Netherlands’ campaign in World Cup 2023, the hospitality of Indians, playing against India in front of huge crowds, and many more. 

Here are excerpts from the interview with Logan van Beek:

I would like to start by asking how did India and Indians treat you?

It was wonderful, we got treated so well as the Dutch team. We became the second favorite team of the Indians. Every hotel gave us such a warm welcome, everyone on the streets was waving at us, smiling. During the games, fans were cheering a lot for us. That was fantastic. 

You’ve spoken about how the World Cup was your long-pending dream. Seeing it fulfilled in a buzzing country like India with huge crowds – it must have been emotional?

It’s crazy when you write down a goal and you think you will achieve it at a certain time. For me, it was a little bit of a delay in terms of when I was going to achieve the goal. My father always said ‘If you dream it, if you believe, it can happen’. It was awesome that it came true in India. I always wanted to play in India in front of big crowds. To be there for the World Cup was special. There were a lot of defining moments as well. Although the games didn’t go our way, it was so surreal to be out there. 

What did the campaign mean for the people back in the Netherlands?

The reaction back home was awesome. Cricket doesn’t get much publicity back in the Netherlands. For us to be all over the TV, and newspapers, it was a huge thing. I had a lot of cousins who didn’t follow cricket at all and I remember them saying “We saw your name in the paper and news”. Little moments like these were awesome. I thank you for that period there, were the center stage on the Netherlands sports front. We were gaining some popularity over there, which was great. 

Performance-wise, what expectations did you have coming into the World Cup and do you think the team fulfilled it?

Coming into the World Cup, our goal was to win four games. That’s what we believed we could do and we can achieve. We identified several games we thought we had a good chance. Once we beat South Africa we were well on track to kind of win those four games. Unfortunately Sri Lanka game didn’t go our way.

We thought if we played our best we could push but we had a poor start with the bat and we didn’t get a defendable total. With the ball we just went on far, it was quite good at the start. Ryan Cook our coach said there’s not going to be any should’ve would’ve or could’ve in this tournament.

We had to do or we did not. In the end, we won two out of nine games, which was satisfactory for us but it wasn’t exactly what we set to achieve. If we had got four wins, it would’ve been a remarkable effort. Three would’ve been good enough, any shorter than two wins we would’ve felt like it was a failed campaign. 

The team was a special bunch, right? I’ve read about the philosophy of playing “total cricket” like total football and the unison was clearly visible on the field – was that the big plan – just stay tight and push together?

We were going to get sides where individual players had played more ODI cricket collectively than our whole team. So we had to come together, we had to squeeze as much as we could out of our talent, and effort.

We felt like the way we were going to compete was just to stick to basics, to be the most disciplined team out there. We were one of the highest percentage catching teams and we had given the least amount of effort.

That’s why we felt like our strength was to be super disciplined and just stay in the fight as long as we can. We tried everything we possibly could in terms of scouting, in terms of being fit. We put some good performances but we are still a long way to perform consistently at that level. 

That match against South Africa – can you tell me about your spell, the plans you had, and the emotional ride it was?

First of all, we somehow got to a total of 260,  thanks to our captain Scott Edwards, Roelof van der Merwe, and Aryan Dutt, they kind of got us to that total after a poor start. Going into the bowling innings, we had a tactic that we wanted to possibly open with two spinners. I ended up opening the bowling and bowled a pretty average first over to Quinton de Kock.

Scotty quickly went to off-spinner and it didn’t seem it would work. Then thankfully, we got Quinton de Kock to off-spinner. Quickly we got Bavuma out and we had them four down in no time. We were in a strong position but they had David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen still there. We know work was still left for us. I came back to bowl and bowled a couple of balls down the leg and Klaasen decided to give one straight to fine leg.

To get him out in that fashion, was a fluke. When we removed their 6 wickets we were cock a hoop. But Miller still posed a threat and hit some blows. There was a dropped catch and we thought that this could prove costly. I came into the third spell and that was the highlight of my trip – the battle between David and me. I was bowling round the wicket and I bowled a half volley, which he crunched through the covers.

When I came for my next over, Max O’Dwod told me you can hit the length as hard as you can. First ball, he punished for four through a fine leg. At that point, I said right whatever I’m doing right now I’m going to hit the hardest length. The last ball I bowled was one of my best balls in the tournament. Just to see the ball hit the top of the off stump, lights flash.

My whole body went into a little bit of shock, just the embrace from boys and high-fives all around. That moment was such a special moment and there we thought we got this, it’s just a matter of getting the job done. That was a pretty special moment me personally before all of us.

After the game, the reaction we got from the crowd, social media, and the cricket fraternity. We shocked the world and showed that anyone better on the day could win and we were worthy of being there in the World Cup. 

Last 2 World Cups you tried to play for New Zealand. Now when you played against them, did it feel awkward?

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to play against them. In the Pakistan game, I pulled my hamstring and couldn’t bowl the rest of my overs. New Zealand games were only three days away. So we had to make a call whether to push myself to play the game or take a rest and be available for the rest of the tournament.

We did the smart option and made sure my leg was okay. It was unfortunate, it was something I was really looking forward to going up against them. It was a hard pill to swallow. It was pretty painful watching the guys go up against them. I knew all those guys inside out, couple of my close mates too played that game. But I was glad I made the right decision by looking after my body. 

For that game against India – playing against the hosts in front of a packed stadium – how was the experience like?

It was probably the one game I was looking forward to playing against India. It was the last game and it was all leading up to that point. After my first two overs, I was pretty above with just 5 runs given and had few LBWs appeals against Rohit Sharma.

Personally, it didn’t quite go well. In terms of performance, got hit for 107 and that was something that wasn’t too fun. But it was pretty challenging,   to bowl 5 death overs at one end and when you got Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul at top form, it’s challenging for any bowler. Statistically wise it wasn’t but in terms of experience, I was so grateful to be out there going against the best.

The crowd was great, music was playing, I danced and they loved to see me dancing in the outfield. It was loud, it was everything you imagine playing a game in India against India. That’s the memory that will last with me go ages.

My parents and wife were there in crowds as well, they also got to experience it. Regardless of the result, it was just cool to be out there. India was on fire, I was shocked to see them lose in the final. Australia played a great game. It was something I will cherish for a long time. 

Did you catch up with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma? If yes, what did you guys talk about?

They are pretty elusive characters to try to catch up with. But I did catch up with Mohammed Shami and had a good chat about bowling. I know Kuldeep Yadav well, we had a bit of friendship from last year when I  toured with the New Zealand A team to India. Every time we played, he got me out and now it’s four times in a row.

We actually swap shirts at the end of the game, that was pretty cool to be able to do that. He’s a character, Kuldeep and it was nice to catch up with him. I met a few Indian players ahead of the tournament on the media day. I met Hardik, KL, and a few other guys at the hotel. They all are good, pretty relaxed, and wonderful cricketers as well. 

Did you guys feel that this team could achieve a shift in how the Netherlands are perceived in world cricket now?

I hope so. I hope we gain a bit more respect and are given a few more opportunities to play around the world. The Super League was something that helped us a lot by playing against nations. Hopefully, ICC can bring in opportunities.

When teams are going to tour England, there’s no reason why teams can’t stop and play a few T20Is and ODIs in the Netherlands. I think teams are going to be encouraged to go up against us and they will also get good competition. 

Are you looking forward to the 2024 T20 World Cup? What are your goals for that? 

My goal for that is to play at the Queen’s Park at Oval in Trinidad. My grandfather played for the New Zealand and West Indies. He grew up in Trinidad beside the Queen Park Oval. He played for Queen’s Park in Port of Spain.

It’s the last stadium in my list of stadiums I want to play at. it would be a nice full circle moment to be able to play at that ground, knowing my grandfather played there. That will be a special moment if we get to play on the ground. Otherwise, to be able to get it to the semi-final is something we are aiming for in the T20 World Cup. We have got our sights set on it.