Dutch star Ten Doeschate believes his familiarity with Indian pitches during World Cup will help him do well in the IPL for KKR
Dutch star Ten Doeschate believes his familiarity with Indian pitches during World Cup will help him do well in the IPL for KKR
Ryan ten Doeschate, the first player from an associate nation to make headlines this World Cup, now hopes to make an instant impact when he makes his maiden appearance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) next month.
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| Dutch star Ryan ten Doeschate celebrates his century against England in Nagpur on Feb 22. Pic/AFP |
Doeschate, who will play for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), will be up against KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir when the Netherlands take on India at the Feroz Shah Kotla today.
"I was so thrilled when picked up by KKR, I am confident of doing well if given an opportunity. I'm getting acquainted with the Indian conditions, so hopefully it pays off," Doeschate, Holland's most successful player, told MiD DAY.
Like a lot of South Africans who have Dutch ancestry, ten Doeschate moved to Holland in his early 20s. He could have played for South Africa if it wasn't for his late blossoming.
"If I had done well in cricket at a younger age, I could have played for South Africa. I developed my game at a pretty late age and thus playing for South Africa was out of the question.
Good move
"Moving to Holland has been fantastic. It's been a privilege to represent them," said the 30-year-old, who plays T20 cricket for the Canterbury Wizards in NZ, the Mashonaland Eagles in Zimbabwe, the Tasmanian Tigers in the Big Bash, his home English county, Essex, and will now represent KKR.
Today's match will also be a first-of-a-kind experience for Dutch players to play in front of 41,000 screaming fans.
Ten Doeschate has urged his players to feed off the enormity of the occasion.
"India are one of the strong contenders to win the World Cup. It'll be a great learning curve for our team to play against these superstars and put our skills to test," Doeschate said.
Asked if there was a particular player who his team was fearing, the South African-born all-rounder said:u00a0 "No one in particular. If you look at the batting order, almost everyone is a match-winner on his day. We will have to play out of our skins for 100 overs to give them a fight.
"The boys are up for it, we've had some setbacks after that great match against England, but the mood is positive," he signed off.
