Injuries force two changes to Netherlands’ T20 World Cup squad
Netherlands have made a couple of changes to their squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Fred Klaassen and Daniel Doram, originally included in the Netherlands' Men’s T20 World Cup squad announced on May 13, have been ruled out of the tournament due to injuries.
Kyle Klein, initially named as a travelling reserve, and Saqib Zulfiqar have been added to the 15-member squad. Kyle’s brother, Ryan Klein, has now been designated as the first reserve.
Saqib Zulfiqar broke a budding third-wicket stand between Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi
Kyle, a right-arm fast bowler, has represented the Netherlands in only three international matches so far, making his debut earlier this year in February.
On the other hand, Saqib is returning to T20I cricket after nearly five years, having last played the format in August 2019. Despite his hiatus from T20Is, he has been active in the ODI setup and was part of the Netherlands squad for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
The 27-year-old brings valuable experience and leg-spin variety to the Dutch bowling attack, with 21 matches under his belt for the Netherlands.
Squad: Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede, Kyle Klein, Logan van Beek, Max O'Dowd, Michael Levitt, Paul van Meekeren, Saqib Zulfiqar, Scott Edwards, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Tim Pringle, Vikram Singh, Viv Kingma, Wesley Barresi.
Netherlands are currently busy preparing for the T20 World Cup with an ongoing T20I tri-series against Scotland and Ireland at home.
ALSO READ: Warm-up fixtures announced for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024
They will play two warm-up fixtures, first against Sri Lanka (28 May) and then against Canada (30 May) before their tournament opener against Nepal on 4 May in Dallas. They are placed in Group D with South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.