After a decent performance at the T20 World cup in Australia last year, the Netherlands are all set to begin their world cup campaign from the 6th October against Pakistan in Hyderabad.
But what does this England-born, 32-year-old bring to the Dutch and is he rated?
The good news for them, however, is their experienced all rounder Colin Ackermann is back in the side.
The Dutch man now looks fit and ready to be a part of the squad, as he missed out on the World Cup qualifiers, which were held in Zimbabwe earlier this year due to his commitment to his county side in England.
Ackermann has a wide range of shots in his arsenal and the conventional sweep seems to be his favourite against the spin bowlers.
He has a habit of playing along the ground and not slogging too much which will be ideal in the current format of the world cup. Building the innings with his experience is what he should be looking after.
The right hander’s batting is going to match the Indian wickets as he plays the spin well and we can see him playing a variety of shots.
The lad can score quickly and attach thinking to his strokeplay, not always such a common sight in the game nowadays.
Ackermann’s off break can cause a lot of damage to the opposition especially with spinner friendly wickets in India he should be looking after bowling a couple of overs in the power play as well, it will be interesting to see how captain Edwards uses his spells.
Ackermann finished as the second highest run scorer in the T20 world cup last year for The Netherlands, his addition to the squad brings in a lot of experience for the Dutch side as he will have a crucial role to play in the team, with his batting and off break Netherlands would like to utilise his experience to the best.
After having played a season in the English county and more than a couple of games in the Hundred, Ackermann would like to continue his run in the world cup as well but it’s not going to be easy as things are going to be challenging with him spending a lot of time in the English conditions he will to adapt in the sub continent pretty quick.
It didn’t look like his side missed him much in the qualifiers as they emerged runners-up and that allowed Ackermann to polish his skills in others formats of the game but it’s a level up here as the best teams are now against them.
Ackermann only played 3 games in th Hundred and didn’t event bat in all of them, his 24* remains the only decent score for the Southern Braves as he was replacing their injured wicket keeper Alex Davies.
He was named in the squad alongside veteran Roelof Van Der Merwe after he smashed a brilliant 136 and two not out 90s in the English circuit, that was enough for the selectors to bring him back in the national side for the world cup. Although Ackermann has shown his skills on various occasions both with the bat and bowl.
In July last year, he smashed a not out 277 in the county championship, back in the 2019 T20 blast, he took 7 wickets against the Birmingham Bears. The 7-for would turn out to be his best bowling figures in T20’s.
Colin Ackermann will have a job in his hands as his off break can prove critical in the Indian spinning tracks, his batting in the middle order is something his team will be expecting from him as he is pretty experienced in that area.
It’s not going to be easy but the Dutch spirit has always been high and there is less doubt in saying that it’s not going to be easy for their opponents either to claim a win against them.
While surely, time will tell us which way the wind blows for the Dutch, but a thing can be said for certain that Colin Ackermann will be pumped to take the field in what is the first ever World Cup appearance for the Dutch in fifty over cricket.
