PAK vs NED, ICC World Cup 2023: Pakistan and Netherlands Ready to Write a New Chapter

In many ways, the opening fixture of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 for both Pakistan and Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium holds a special significance for both teams.

Pakistan are in India for the showpiece event for the first time in seven years with only two members from the team to have played here before – Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Aga. Right from the uncertainty of whether the team will travel to India for the World Cup, to the change of venues and a whole lot of to and fro between the two boards, they are here in Hyderabad, a city that has welcomed them with open arms.

For the Dutch, it has taken them 15 years from 2007 to be part of a 50-over World Cup, and notwithstanding the talks about the format being close to being redundant, it is a great opportunity for them to showcase what they have been able to accomplish over the years and what has largely gone unnoticed – their run in the Super League and clear step up in the quality of talent that is coming through.

READ: PAK vs NED, World Cup 2023: ‘We Have Unfinished Business From 2019’ – Mickey Arthur’s Pakistan Sets Eyes on Redemption

The Uppal stadium, Hyderabad provides the venue, but practically with no Pakistan supporters in the stand – owing to visa issuance and delays over it, Pakistan will be reliant on the partisan Hyderabad crowd for support. After all, a sizable number had turned up for Pakistan’s last warm-up game against Australia just a couple of days back. Not often you get the chance to watch Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi in action live, and not that there would be many such opportunities in the future as well.

Nevertheless, Pakistan and Netherlands put in their last-minute preparations a day before, much like how work was going on at a bustling pace in a race to get the Stadium ready. A canopy on the west end with floodlights attached is a new, and welcome addition, to the stadium, but the east side one has been left for another day. Nearly 4000 new seats – all of them at the lower tier – give a sense of facelift, but as you move further but a bit away from the range of the broadcast cameras, it is a different story – or rather the same, fragmentary, much like the HCA association currently.

What: Pakistan vs. Netherlands, Match 2, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

When: October 6, 2023, 2:00 PM IST

Where: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

Team News

Pakistan

Smarting from two losses in the warm-up games, Pakistan would know they have to get their act together, especially in bowling. Both the games saw Pakistan concede over 350, and the pitch conditions more or less are likely to remain the same. From nets, cues were that Mohammad Wasim Jr. could pip Hasan Ali in the XI. Ali, a late replacement in the squad for injured Naseem Shah, had bowled with the new ball in both the warm-up games with flailing returns. The toss-up in the middle order also seemed sorted with Fakhar Zaman and Saud Shakeel getting a good hit in the net session in comparison to Abdulla Shafique and Salman Aga.

Netherlands

Netherlands last played an ODI in April against South Africa and their preparations for the world cup (read Warm-up games) did not go according to the plan. Their XI is more or less settled but the key player will be Bas De Leede and skipper Scott Edwards. No injury concerns as of yet.

Probable XIs

Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam ul Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf

Netherlands: Vikramjeet Singh, Max O’Dowd, Wesley Baressi, Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru/Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards (c, wk), Logan van Beek, Saqib Zulfiqar, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meerkeren, Aryan Dutt

Team Comments

We’re a very, very good cricket team. And again, that was part of the attraction for me coming back because these were all young boys that I worked with who have become men and have become very, very good cricketers – Mickey Arthur, Team Director, Pakistan

We want to make the semifinals. If we want to get there, we’ve got to win four or five games, so we’d have to take down one of the big teams, but that’s our main target – Bas de Leede, Allrounder, Netherlands

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