DUTCH & GO

Netherlands men will be making their fifth ODI WC appearance, their first since 2011, in India this October. Coach Ryan Cook reflects on their dream campaign, the significance of their achievement & more...

- FIROZ MIRZA & GOMESH S

EVERYONE loves a fairytale ending. Even more so in sports. The recent 2023 ODI World Cup Qualifiers potential for so many of them. However, as it is reality at this point, there were only place for two, with the Netherlands and Sri Lanka fulfilling their dream. The Dutch didn’t have several key players nor do they have an ODI scheduled for the foreseeable future and yet, they achieved something special in Zimbabwe, finishing second in the qualifiers and their head coach Ryan Cook is immensely proud of it.

Cohesion, team bonding, diversity, celebrating each other keeps coming back as he reflected on the journey, the obstacles, challenges, mentality to get to this point and what they would need to grow strength to strength from hereon before the global event in a conversation with this daily. Excerpts.

On World Cup qualification & its impact

We had some ups and downs along the way and to achieve something like that was a massive achievement that just shows what the Netherlands cricket are capable of doing. Hopefully, it has set a great perception back home. And it has some lasting impact going forward in the game. Not only in the belief of the players and the support staff but also obviously from the administration and what can be achieved with the team.

On beating West Indies in Super Over