ISLAMABAD: Pakistan to tackle an easy opponent Netherlands in their opening match of the World Cup on Friday, although desperate to avoid a repeat of the disastrous start of four years ago which undermined their campaign.
In 2019, Pakistan lost to the then out-of-form West Indies first up in Nottingham, which took Pakistan till the end of the tournament in the issue of ifs and buts due to the net run rate issue to book a place in the semifinal and led the most unpredictable side of the world cup.
Now after four years, Pakistan are already riding a familiar tournament rollercoaster.
They crashed out of the Asia Cup last month after a huge defeat against arch-rivals India before being beaten by Sri Lanka in the final contest of the Super Four stage. In addition, Pakistan also lost both their recent World Cup warm-up contests against New Zealand and Australia.
Another challenge the team is facing, almost all players of the team are visiting India for the first time to participate in a major event. However, the skipper Babar Azam was of the view that he and his side were all set to be ready for the big contest.
“We had good practice in the last week since our arrival and two useful workouts in the warm-up games,” said Babar.
Being a good omen, the skipper himself is the top-ranked batsman in ODI cricket and reinforced his credentials with knocks of 80 and 90 in the two warm-ups, returning to form after a poor Asia Cup.
Pakistan Not to Underestimate the Dutch
However, despite the pressure in the past, Babar remarked the 1992 champions Pakistan would not underestimate the Dutch, a team they have defeated six times in six meetings.
The Netherlands ranked 14 in the world, had to come through the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe earlier this year and made it to the World Cup alongside Sri Lanka.
“There is no room for complacency and we will be on the ball from the first match.”, Babar said
The Netherlands only managed to mark two wins at the World Cup since their maiden appearance in 1996.
Spinners Colin Ackermann and Roelof van der Merwe, and pacer Paul van Meekeren have joined the team after missing the qualifiers.
Wesley Barresi, the only surviving member of the 2011 World Cup on the sub-continent, adds experience to the batting which also boasts prime run-getters Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, and skipper Scott Edwards.
But the side would mostly rely on all-rounders Bas de Leede and Logan van Beek, key performers at the qualifiers.
De Leede smashed 285 runs and took 15 wickets in Zimbabwe while Van Beek scored 30 runs and grabbed two wickets in the knife-edge Super Over win against the West Indies.
Despite having a lower rank, the Dutch do not lack confidence while having full confidence to enter the mega event.
“We hold high hopes going into the mega event that we could put in a couple of really big performances and those could result in wins,” coach Ryan Cook told AFP.
“We would be putting everything that we could while having five or six wins to take us into the semi-finals.”, he said.
