Netherlands Name Strong 16-Member Squad For The T20 Tour To South Africa

The Netherlands Cricket Team have announced a strong 16-member squad for the upcoming T20 tour to South Africa. The Dutch team will be playing seven games on their visit against four different teams. 

Netherlands will begin their tour with the two T20s against SA20 match against Sunrisers Eastern Cape. The Dutch team will be playing two games against the defending champions of SA20 on 4th and 6th January respectively. 

After that Netherlands will be playing two games against Paarl Royals and then one against Mumbai Indians Cape Town on 8 January. The Dutch team will then be traveling to Johannesburg to take the Lions to play the remaining games of the T20Is. 

Senior players in Colin Ackermann, Logan van Beek, Bas de Leede, and Roelof van der Merwe will be missing the T20Is. Whereas 12 members of the team that featured in the ICC World Cup 2023 will be part of the team for the seven T20s on South African land. 

Scott Edwards will captain the team whereas fast bowler Viv Kingma, Leeward Islands, and left-arm spinner Daniel Doram have been recalled into the team. The trio missed out on the team for the ICC World Cup 2023 and it will be a huge opportunity for them to reclaim their spot in the team. 

The Netherlands has also given maiden call-ups to batter Michael Levitt and pace bowler Kyle Klein. Aryan Dutt, who shined in World Cup 2023 with the ball, also has been named in the team. The spinner hasn’t played any T20Is so far and it’ll be an opportunity for him to get into the groove. 

The seven T20s will be a great opportunity for the Netherlands to prepare themselves for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. The event will take place in the United States of America (USA) and the Caribbean in June 2024. The Dutch team recently qualified for the event and would be hoping to put up a show. 

The Netherlands had a decent outing in the ICC World Cup 2023. They defeated semi-finalists South Africa and also thumped Bangladesh. At one stage they were in great contention for the Champions Trophy spot but missed out by a whisker. 

The Netherlands would be hoping to make a statement in the T20 World Cup 2024. These seven T20s will begin their road to the event and they would be hoping to start it on the high. The games will also be preparation for SA20 teams to prepare for the tournament, set to begin from 10th January. 

Netherlands squad for the T20 tour to South Africa

Here’s the Netherlands squad for the T20 tour to South Africa

Scott Edwards (captain), Wesley Barresi, Shariz Ahmad, Noah Croes, Daniel Doram, Aryan Dutt, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Viv Kingma, Kyle Klein, Ryan Klein, Michael Levitt, Paul van Meekeren, Teja Nidamanuru, Max O’Dowd, Vikram Singh, Saqib Zulfiqar.

After the tour to South Africa, the Netherlands will begin their ODI League 2 campaign with a tri-series against Nepal and Namibia in Kathmandu from 10-24 February. After that, the teams will play a T20 tri-series as well.