5 October - Hyderabad - Netherlands player Bas de Leede pre-match press conference
[Reporter:]
Can you just take us through the emotions that all of you are feeling as a group as you prepare for the opening game of this World Cup? It's been already a slightly good long trip to India with you playing and training in Bangalore and then a couple of tour games and then into this. So just take us through what you guys have been up to as a group in terms of training and the emotions that you feel at this stage.
[Bas de Leede:]
Yeah, I think we're all just really excited. Like you said, we've spent quite a bit of time in India now. So obviously, the closer you get to the first game, the more excited you're going to get. I think we're ready. You know, we spent some time in Bangalore, where we trained. And now, unfortunately, we had the two rained off games, which was a shame. But yeah, I think we've had the right prep to be ready for tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
How big is this World Cup for you? You are playing for the second half, the first visit in 2011, again now you have qualified. How big is this and tomorrow what will be the match against Pakistan? How are you looking forward to it? Tomorrow's match against Pakistan.
[Bas de Leede:]
Yeah, obviously a long time for us in between World Cups, so to be able to be here with the group we have today, obviously a very young group that has not been to a 50-over World Cup except for Wesley Barresi, the only member that has been. But like I said earlier, we're all excited and we feel like we're in the right space to play against Pakistan tomorrow and hopefully beat them.
[Reporter:]
You come from a family of cricketers, your father has also represented Netherlands and has a very good experience of representing cricket and country. So, what has been his advice to you while coming to India? Any special message from his side to you and the boys?
[Bas de Leede:]
Not too much, actually. The one thing he said was enjoy it. So, I think that's off the field but also on the field, taking a moment sometimes during the game to sort of soak up what's happening. Obviously a very special occasion for me and the other guys. On the cricketing front, he takes care of the small things. He's always been kind of letting me go free and try and play my own game and not be too involved. So, I chatted to him about his memories from World Cups, which is a nice thing. But other than that, not much.
[Reporter:]
So, any special matchups that you are looking forward to when Netherlands play India later in the tournament?
[Bas de Leede:]
Yeah, that's obviously a long way away still. Something that we haven't really, or I haven't really thought of just yet. It's obviously going to be a big game, but at the moment just focused on tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
Could you talk us through how the preparations have been and overall, how is the group feeling once the main tournament starts? Because obviously the warm-ups are done and dusted. And now the main tournament starts. So overall, what is the feeling in the group and how well prepared you are for the World Cup?
[Bas de Leede:]
Yeah, we obviously had a nice practice week in Bangalore, which was good for us. And then the games in Thiruvananthapuram got rained off, which was a shame. But I think it almost makes us even more eager and even more excited for the game tomorrow. You know, hopefully it stays dry and we get on. But I think we're well prepared. I think the guys are feeling confident, so everyone's just really looking forward to going out there tomorrow and show what we can do
[Reporter:]
You guys played Pakistan in one day games back home a little over a year ago and Netherlands ran them really close even though you couldn't close out the games. Do you think that the experience from those games will come in handy when you go on to the field to play the same guys tomorrow?
[Bas de Leede:]
Yeah, I think the experience of the whole Super League, having played against bigger nations, was fantastic for us. And obviously Pakistan, having played them last year in Rotterdam in three ODIs, it'll be nice to sort of be familiar with the team and the players and stuff, having played them before. So, I think that will help us a little bit. But obviously, you know, they've evolved. They've gotten better. They've got different skills now as well, even with Shaheen coming back, who didn't play that series. So, it's nice to have played them before. But yeah, obviously, we still make our plans accordingly.
[Reporter:]
Hi, Bas. We've seen that Netherlands struggled against left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc; he got a hat trick against you. So, Shaheen will be playing tomorrow. So, is he a big worry? Shaheen, Haris Rauf, they have good pace. So, what's the main worry of Netherlands? Do you feel that they are a big threat to your team?
[Bas de Leede:]
Yeah, you know, obviously Shaheen and Haris Rauf are two quality pacers. Something we don't face too often is left-arm swing. It was a little bit of a wake-up call for us against Mitchell Starc the other day, but I think we still need to be confident in our abilities. Shaheen has been a focus point for us in our preparation and also our analysis. So, hopefully we're going to play him better than we did against Starc the other day.
[Reporter:]
Hi. Generally, you don't get to play against star teams regularly. Once you're thrown into the World Cup, you get to meet big teams like Australia, India, and others. How do you look at the situation and what are the realistic targets that you set yourself?
[Bas de Leede:]
Every game is different, obviously. Depends on where we play, what grounds, what conditions. Targets - they differ. We go out and we try and play our best cricket on that day, whether that means we need to be 50 for none after the power play or 70 for none. You know the game will dictate that. So, I think that's on a game-to-game basis, but I feel like what we have done well in the Super League is probably because of having a solid power player where Max and Vikram opened the batting and then building on from that. So, it's tough to say what a good score is at certain stages but I feel we have got the capabilities to produce a target if we bat first or chase down a target that Pakistan set us.
[Reporter:]
Speaking with a larger goal from the World Cup itself – not from a particular match.
[Bas de Leede:]
What do you mean by targets?
[Reporter:]
I mean, what are your targets to spring a surprise or two defeating big teams in the whole World Cup? You get to play the big teams very rarely, so are you planning to bring a surprise or two in the entire tournament?
[Bas de Leede:]
In the entire tournament? We want to make the semi-finals. You know, if we want to get there, we've got to win four or five games. So, we'd have to take down one of the big teams, like you said. But that's our main target. And if we get there, we play our best cricket. Amazing. But if we play our best cricket and we don't get there, I reckon we can still be proud of ourselves.
[Reporter:]
You have an Indian player called Teja. He's from this area. Teja, I think. He is an Indian origin player. So how do you look at this? Because he did quite well in the qualifying tournaments, how big is the player for you?
[Bas de Leede:]
He's a big player in our middle order. He's the only guy to make two ODI centuries in this team. And he's shown what he can do. We played against Zimbabwe in March 2023 where he made 101 in the game and then did it again against West Indies in the qualifying tournament. So, for him, I reckon it's going to be a very special homecoming. And I look forward to seeing what he can do against the top teams in the biggest tournament in the world.
[Reporter:]
You have had very little game time since the qualifiers. How do you then substitute it through whatever training? Because I think even for trainings, you'll have very limited time and all of you will come together. So how have you sort of tried to make up for the lack of game time? And you did play a couple of warm-up games against Karnataka. What were the learnings that you had as a team from those games?
[Bas de Leede:]
Yeah, we obviously don't get to play together as a team very often because guys are spread out. But I think the learnings we can take from Karnataka was, first of all, it was nice to play together as a team and try and adapt to Indian conditions. Obviously, it's one thing training in Indian conditions, but then another thing going out and playing and seeing what it's like in a game, so I think for us it was a nice introduction to Indian conditions and trying to find out what works for us as a team
And then you know lack of game time. It was a shame that the warm-up games got rained off. But I think in the nets, we try and replicate game scenarios and try and be as competitive as we can when bowling to each other, when facing each other.
So that's probably the one way we've tried to make up for the lack of games.
[Reporter:]
Considering you're the only associate team in the tournament, do you think it's better to have a nothing to lose approach going into the tournament or you have set yourself expectations playing a World Cup after 2011?
So, I mean, what's the better approach?
[Bas de Leede:]
I think probably a mixture of both. I don't think any of the teams have got anything to lose. They've got something to gain, which is winning the World Cup. I think for us, obviously it's special being back for the first time since 2011, but we've set our goal high which is making the semifinal and I don't think if we don't make it, we're a failure or anything like that. I think if we don't make it, but we have played our best cricket, we can still be proud of ourselves. But by setting the goal to make the semi-final, I think we can probably do more than what people expect from us. So yeah, I think it's a mixture of having nothing to lose, but also trying to perform at our best again after 12 years.
[Reporter:]
So, as you said, your aim is to reach the semifinals. Let’s say if you do - does that play a big role for the development of the sport in your country?
[Bas de Leede:]
I don't think I don't think making the semifinals would be a big role in the development of cricket in the country. I think that we're here already is big. There's talks about it. Maybe being live broadcasted in Holland for the first time in four years, I think that cricket is going to be on national television, which is great news, and I think it's stuff like that and that's massive for the country and cricket in the country obviously making the semifinals would give us more publicity and hopefully even reach more people, but I think us being here is already a massive thing for the sport.
[Reporter:]
You talked about team's expectations, I just want to know your expectations, personal expectations, you're coming into this in good form, so your personal expectations, any goals that you set for yourself as an individual?
[Bas de Leede:]
Not many. When I was younger, I wrote down that I wanted to make 100 in the World Cup. So that’s something that I would like to tick off, but I haven't gone into this tournament saying I want to do this or do that, because I'd be equally happy if someone else did it and it wasn't me. So, no, I haven't gone into this tournament saying I want to tick off that or I want to tick off that. Whatever happens - happens. Sometimes you get a good ball on a day and you might get out for a golden duck and sometimes they drop it and you're able to score runs. So, I think I want to define myself and define our team in the way we play, not necessarily the results we get.