Even if people want to play for the Netherlands, lack of money holds them back: Aakash Chopra

After Afghanistan stunned England in the ongoing World Cup, Netherlands went on to create another upset after they got better of in-form South Africa in match 15 of the ICC tournament. Talking about the match, Netherland posted 245 runs after the game was trimmed down to 43 overs per side. However, while chasing the target, South African batters lacked firepower and none of them except Miller could rise to the occasion. 

South Africa lost the game by 38 runs where skipper Scott Edwards was declared player of the match for his classy 78* off 69. On the other hand, Logan van Beek took three wickets for his side. Former India cricket Aakash Chopra came up with his thoughts on why Netherlands cricketers pull back when it comes to playing for the nation. Chopra explained the role of money for players of the Dutch team while taking up the sport.

Hosting JioCinema’s daily sports show ‘#AAKASHVANI,’ Aakash Chopra explained why very few people in the Netherlands take up cricket and how the Dutch pulled off a huge upset over South Africa. “The Netherlands is a team full of amateurs. There are very few professionals on the side. And that is because there’s no money or very little money. No one has a central contract there. They do have retainers, but that too depends on how much cricket the concerned player plays. During qualifiers, seven of their players were not even there - they were playing county cricket.

Someone like Bas de Leede came for the qualifiers and went back simply because there’s no money to play qualifiers. So even if people want to play for the Netherlands, the lack of money holds them back. They are a team capable of playing one match that everyone remembers and that’s what they did against South Africa.”