IPL contract will be next level for Netherlands players: Cook

Bengaluru, Nov 11: The spirited Netherlands have given a good account of themselves in the World Cup and their coach Ryan Cook on Saturday hoped that some of the players might have evoked interest among the IPL franchises ahead of this year’s auction.
Netherlands are 10th on the points table with four points but they have scored memorable wins over semi-finalists South Africa and Bangladesh in the tournament.
The player auction ahead of the IPL 2024 will be held in Dubai on December 19, and Cook said being part of the league will be a huge step-up for his players.
“IPL would be a great experience for our players and that would be sort of the next level.
But even just any of the other leagues as well would be welcomed from the players’ point of view – the experience that they can gain in that space,” said Cook during his pre-match press meet ahead of the match against India here on Sunday.
Cook pointed at the quality and availability factors as two reasons for the leagues to increasingly look at Dutch players.
In the past, only two Dutch players have played in the IPL – all-rounder Ryan Ten Doeschate, who played for KKR and left-arm quick Dirk Nannes.
Spinner Roelof van der Merwe, who now plays for the Netherlands, too had appeared in the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, but during that time the left-arm spinner was a South African cricketer.
Nannes was playing for Australia when he played for RCB in the IPL.
“Our fixture list is such that most of the leagues that are played, our players would have full availability. Sometimes the auction depends on who’s available and who’s not available. I think mostly in our cases, we’re always available.
The Dutch coach was excited to take on India and he expected India to come hard at his team. (PTI)