The Netherlands’ T20 World Cup preparations have suffered a blow with injuries forcing key players Fred Klaassen and Daniel Doram out of the tournament. Klaassen, a veteran pacer, is battling a recurrence of a lower back stress fracture, while Doram suffered a broken hand.
The Dutch have reacted swiftly, calling up Kyle Klein and Saqib Zulfiqar as replacements. Klein was initially the sole travelling reserve, but now finds himself thrust into the main squad. Doram’s absence leaves a bigger hole, as the left-arm spinner had performed well in the warm-up tri-series against Scotland and Ireland, claiming four wickets in two matches.
Saqib Zulfiqar, a 27-year-old legspinner, brings experience with six T20Is and 15 ODIs under his belt. Kyle Klein, a young talent at 22, has a limited international career, with just one T20I appearance.
This news comes as the Dutch continue their preparations with a mixed bag of results in the ongoing tri-series. They convincingly defeated Scotland but were edged out by a single run in a thrilling encounter with Ireland.
These injuries add another layer of challenge to the Dutch squad, which already faced selection headaches. English county commitments forced Colin Ackermann and Roelof van der Merwe to stay back, while Tim Pringle remains the lone left-arm spinner after Doram’s injury. Brandon Glover continues his recovery from injury and remains unavailable, while Timm van der Gugten is sidelined with a calf issue.
With Scott Edwards continuing as captain, the Netherlands will aim to overcome these setbacks. The T20 World Cup kicks off on June 1st, with the Netherlands facing Nepal in their opening match on June 4th in Dallas. Their group stage also includes encounters with Bangladesh, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. The Dutch will hope to hit the ground running despite the injury disruptions and challenge for a place in the knockout stages.
Netherlands provisional squad for the T20 World Cup missing key players
Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede, Kyle Klein, Logan van Beek, Max O’Dowd, Michael Levitt, Paul van Meekeren, Scott Edwards (capt/wk), Saqib Zulfiqar, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Tim Pringle, Vikramjit Singh, Vivian Kingma, Wesley Barresi
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