After booking the flight to India,  The Netherlands continues to soar higher and higher

Only one batter scored extra runs than Max O’Dowd in the final T20 World Cup. That was Virat Kohli, somebody he has at all times regarded up to.

O’Dowd scored 242 runs for the Netherlands at a mean of 34.57 from eight matches in Australia final 12 months. In the Netherlands’ well-known victory towards South Africa, he had placed on 58 for the opening wicket with Stephan Myburgh.

Remarkably, the Dutch surprised South Africa at the ongoing World Cup, too. They, then, went on to beat Bangladesh as effectively.

O’Dowd, nonetheless, hasn’t been amongst the runs. To be honest, the essential batters of the Netherlands have struggled most of the time and it’s the males decrease down the order — led from the entrance by captain Scott Edwards — which have invariably carried out the rescue act.

All about the momentum

O’Dowd, however, is delighted that the workforce has carried out effectively in cricket’s most prestigious match. “It was amazing the way we fought back and won against South Africa,” he informed The Hindu. “We got the momentum through that fabulous innings from Scott Edwards and his partnerships with Roelof van der Merwe and Aryan Dutt. We were able to take that momentum into our bowling. I guess we just wanted to defend every run like it was our last.”

O’Dowd, who’s the first ever centurion for the Netherlands in T20Is, says the approach the lower-order has batted at the World Cup has been heartening. “We bat all the way down to No. 11,” he says. “Aryan Dutt comes in at No. 10 and he can hit a ball very far. He has done a lot of work on it. It is good to see different guys contribute. In the match against Sri Lanka, Sybrand Engelbrecht came in at No. 7 and scored 70 from a difficult situation, and that was only his third ODI.”

The Netherlands, nonetheless, couldn’t win that match at Lucknow, as the Lankans paced their chase completely, with Sadeera Samarawickrama exhibiting the approach. “After scoring 262, we really backed ourselves as we felt it was a really good score,” he says. “I think we probably just missed it a little bit with the ball. But then again, I mean the bowlers have been so good for us and the top-order obviously hasn’t scored enough runs.”

Still, the Netherlands has carried out effectively to sit above defending champion England and Bangladesh on the factors desk. The laborious work the workforce has been doing over the final couple of years is paying dividends.

Hard work

The Netherlands had booked the flight to India after ending forward of the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland, all Test enjoying nations, at the World Cup Qualifier earlier in the 12 months. “We prepared hard for the World Cup,” says O’Dowd. “We have done a lot of work on spin camps, spin bowling and improving our footwork, sweeping and all that kind of stuff.”

He says the workforce is massively happy with the progress it’s making. He hopes it’ll increase the profile of cricket again dwelling in the Netherlands.

“In the last 12 months if you look at the T20 World Cup and this World Cup and the Qualifiers we have been very good,” he factors out. “We have had some very good passages of cricket. And now it is just kind of playing even better and reaching new heights which people don’t expect us to. That will boost our profile further, to really boost the profile in a country where cricket is a minor sport.”

O’Dowd, who was born in New Zealand, has been enjoying for the Netherlands for eight years now. He finds some similarities between the two international locations when it comes to cricket.

“New Zealand is such a disciplined side,” he says. “The way they kind of go about their business, they do all the small things. They do all the basics very well and attack when they need to attack. That’s the kind of cricket we want to be playing. And we believe in total cricket.”

Friends and rivals

He grew up enjoying cricket in New Zealand. “A lot of my friends play over there and I have a lot of mates,” he says. “I have played against Ish Sodhi, Mark Chapman and Kyle Jamieson. I spoke to Ish after the New Zealand game. And my Netherlands teammate Teja Nidamanuru also played there.”

While rising up, his cricketing idols had been Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. “Ponting was a hard-nosed captain and he had an amazing pull shot,” he stated. “And I love the way he goes about his work. Rohit Sharma makes it look so easy, and then K.L. Rahul is another one I like; I think he’s a very classy player.”

O’Dowd loves the expertise of enjoying in India, the place he graciously poses for pictures with each fan that requests him.

“You know, when I grew up, I admired the likes of Shane Bond, Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram and taking photos with them was a big deal for me as a kid,” he says. “So I would never want to disappoint.”

One noticed that he didn’t, throughout the social gathering hosted by the Netherlands Ambassador Marisa Gerards at the stunning Netherlands Residency in New Delhi the different night time, as he posed with every a kind of followers.