IND v NED: T20 WC PREVIEW

It didn't take long for the normal services to resume and India established their dominance over Pakistan in ICC World cups one again. It took a Kohli special for the men in blue to pull off an improbable win and clinch a last ball thriller. India started brilliantly with the new ball and sent both the prolific scorers Rizwan and Babar back in the hut early in the innings. With 160 on the board, it was never going to be smooth ride given the bowling attack Pakistan had and at 31/4 things started looking bleak. But as they say, its not over until its finally over. This again has raised lot of questions surrounding the batting line up. Since 2016 Asia cup, Indian batters apart from Kohli have literally surrenderd against Pakistan in every single game. KL Rahul and Skipper Rohit Sharma have to pull up their socks against South Africa and in knockouts. KL averages 19 with a SR of 100 odd against full member sides since last October.

Indian coach Paras Mhambrey confirmed Hardik is fit and available as there were reports of him being rested and he was seen cramping during the game against Pakistan. Netherlands had a decent start to their campaign by winning 2 consecutive games but they fell agonisingly short of the target against Sri Lanka and were blown away by Bangladesh in the last game. The batting has let them down so far and there haven't been any standout performances apart from O'Dwood and Leede. To make things worse, veteran all rounder Van der Merwe was seen struggling with back pain against SL and his availability remains a big question. Tom Cooper, their best and the most experienced batter in these conditions has been disaapointing so far. Another name that needs to step up is Scott Edwards. He played many outstanding innings against ENG and PAK recently at home in ODI cricket. India needs to be vary of Left arm seamer Klaseen and left arm spinner Tim Pringle in the 1st 6 overs.

Probabale XI

India

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

Netherlands

Vikramjit Singh, Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Tom Cooper, Scott Edwards (C & wk), Tim Pringle, Logan van Beek, Shariz Ahmed/Roelof van der Merve, Fred Klaassen, Paul van Meekeren

Venue

Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

Total matches 13

Matches won batting first 7
Matches won bowling first 5

Average 1st Inns scores 163
Average 2nd Inns scores 138

Highest total recorded 221/5 by AUS vs ENG

Lowest total recorded 111/10 by AUS vs NZ

Highest score chased 200/3 by IND vs AUS

Team Form

(Last 5 matches)

IND: W L W W W W

NED: L L W W L

Form Update

(Last 5 innings )

Key Players & Fantasy Picks

Surya Kumar Yadav

Purple patch would be an understatement to describe SKY's current phase in T20s. He is batting a few notches above than anyone else in world cricket at the moment. He is all the time in the world and can hit you to any parts of the ground at his will. Since the begiining of 2022, SKY has scored more than 800 runs at a super impressive SR of over 180 in just 24 innings.

Hardik Pandya

Since his return from the injury, he has put a brilliant case for being one of the finest all rounders in the t20 format. With captaincy and leading his IPL team to a title victory he has emerged as a more mature player. 487 runs in 2022 IPL and Man of the match performance in the final with the ball. 534 runs at a SR of 150 in last 21 t20i innings and 16 wkts including a 4 fer against Eng, a 3 fer against Pak in the last game makes him one of the most utility players in the format.

Virat Kohli

He has stormed back into the top 10 rankings just within a span of 3 months from being ranked 33. Virat Kohli has seldom failed in a T20 WC match since 2012 and considering his exploits in the last game, all things point of him bagging another man of the tournamnet award

Bas de Leede

During Round 1 of the World Cup, Bas de Leede was Player of the Match in both of the Netherlands' victories with 3 wkts against UAE and 2 wkts, 30 runs against Namibia. Since last t20 wc he has scored 347 runs and picked up 19 wkts for NED which makes him the highest run scorer and wk taker.

MP O'dowd

He is the leading run scorer of the tournament for the Dutch with 137 runs from 4 innings with a best of a valiant 71* against Sri Lanka that almost pulled off an unlikely chase

Fantasy XI