Scott Edwards to lead Netherlands in T20 World Cup

Amstelveen, Jan 12 (PTI) Scott Edwards will lead the Netherlands in next month's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka as the Dutch named an experienced 15-member squad on Monday.

The squad features a host of seasoned players including Roelof van der Merwe, Bas de Leede, Michael Levitt, Zach Lion-Cachet and 34-year-old all-rounder Colin Ackermann.

Highlighting the rich experience within his outfit, head coach Ryan Cook said, "With experience in the past few World Cups, having played against all of the teams in our group recently and having exposure to the conditions in Sri Lanka and India, we are confident in our preparations over the past few months." "Players and staff have been working hard and making many sacrifices to put the team in a great position to succeed in the tournament.

"Our squad has depth and variety in options which we feel will be effective against the opposition and in these conditions as well experience which will be important as we look to advance through the group stages." The Netherlands are in Group A of the tournament alongside Pakistan, Namibia, USA and defending champions India.

The Dutch had sealed their qualification for the tournament via the Europe Qualifiers, alongside Italy.

This will be their seventh appearance in the tournament, their first having come in the 2009 edition, where they stunned hosts England in the opening game.

The Edwards-led side will kickstart their campaign against Pakistan on February 7 in Colombo.

The Netherlands squad: Scott Edwards (c), Colin Ackermann, Noah Croes, Bas de Leede, Aryan Dutt, Fred Klaassen, Kyle Klein, Michael Levitt, Zach Lion-Cachet, Max O'Dowd, Logan van Beek, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Saqib Zulfiqar. PTI TAP TAP AH AH