Team India has not had easy outings so far in the tournament. They won against Bangladesh in their opener by 87 runs. If the bowling was not out of order, the victory margin could have been a lot bigger. Then despite scoring 338 against England they could not defend well and the match ended in a tie. They won against Ireland on Sunday but it was not exactly a walk in the park.
Naturally, Dhoni wants an easy game against the Orange as India's next two league matches will be against South Africa and the West Indies.
"It's the last easy game for us in this tournament. Hopefully, we will come out of it without any trouble," Dhoni said ahead of the match at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Tuesday.
"We have improved as a team in the last three matches. Bowling is a bit of a concern but on the whole I am happy with our performance so far," he added.
Meanwhile¸ Dhoni's counterpart Peter Borren is all revved up and sees the match as an opportunity to show the world what they are capable of doing.
"We need to play our brave cricket against India. Our performance has been a little disappointing in the last couple of games. But Wednesday is the perfect occasion for us to turn it around," said Borren.
Dutchman Ryan Doeschate, who is under the spotlight after a brilliant ton England last month, is too not overawed ahead of the big encounter.
"It indeed is the biggest challenge for us so far. We will try to take on the Indian bowlers head-on," he said.
Ravichandran Ashwin is expected to make his first appearances in the tournament as India would surely want everybody prepared for the tough challenges ahead.
"We do not rule out making changes in the league stages. As of now all 15 are available for selection," Dhoni said.
India have played the Netherlands only once in a World Cup and they won comprehensively at Paarl in South Africa in 2003.
Clearly, India go as favourites but looking at the trend in the tournament, this won't be an easy match against the Dutch who have already played once at Kotla and know the conditions as well as the Indians, if not better.
The squads:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c/wk), Virender Sehwag (vc), Sachin Tendulkar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, S Sreesanth, Yuvraj Singh.
The Netherlands: Peter Borren (c), Adeel Raja, Wesley Barresi (wk), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman (wk), Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Ryan ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent.
Umpires: Steve Davis (Aus) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus).
TV Umpire: Billy Doctrove (West Indies).
Match Referee: RS Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
Match starts at 2.30 pm (IST).
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c/wk), Virender Sehwag (vc), Sachin Tendulkar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virat Kohli, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, S Sreesanth, Yuvraj Singh.
The Netherlands: Peter Borren (c), Adeel Raja, Wesley Barresi (wk), Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman (wk), Tom Cooper, Tom de Grooth, Alexei Kervezee, Bradley Kruger, Bernard Loots, Pieter Seelaar, Eric Szwarczynski, Ryan ten Doeschate, Berend Westdijk, Bas Zuiderent.
Umpires: Steve Davis (Aus) and Bruce Oxenford (Aus).
TV Umpire: Billy Doctrove (West Indies).
Match Referee: RS Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
Match starts at 2.30 pm (IST).
India vs Netherlands in ODIs/World Cup
India and Netherlands have played just one game in ODIs/World Cup. India had defeated Netherlands by 68 runs at Paarl on February 12, 2003. Sachin Tendulkar had scored 52 in India's total of 204 (48.5) while Javagal Srinath had claimed four for 30 and Anil Kumble 4 for 32. .
Overall World Cup record
Played Won Lost NR Tied Winning %
India 61 34 25 1 1 57.50
Netherlands 17 2 15 - - 11.76
India have won 34 and lost 25 out of 61 played (winning % 57.50) - NR 1 and Tied 1
Netherlands have won 2 and lost 15 out of 17 contested (winning % 11.76).
ODIs played in 2011
India's winning % is 56.25 - four wins and three losses apart from one tied game out of eight played.
Netherlands have lost all three games this year - all at the world cup.
Approaching milestones
- Sachin Tendulkar (1982) requires 18 runs to become the first batsman to complete 2,000 runs in the world cup.
- Sachin (19) needs just one hundred to become the first batsman to register 20 centuries at home.
- Yuvraj Singh (99 wickets + 7797) needs just one wicket to complete the double of 7000 runs and 100 wickets.
- Harbhajan Singh (248) needs two wickets to complete his 250 wickets in ODIs.
- Dhoni (5873) requires 127 runs to complete his 6000 runs in ODIs
- Tendulkar (190) requires one six to overtake Sourav Ganguly's tally of 190 sixes. At present, both share an Indian record for most sixes in ODIs.
India and Netherlands have played just one game in ODIs/World Cup. India had defeated Netherlands by 68 runs at Paarl on February 12, 2003. Sachin Tendulkar had scored 52 in India's total of 204 (48.5) while Javagal Srinath had claimed four for 30 and Anil Kumble 4 for 32. .
Overall World Cup record
Played Won Lost NR Tied Winning %
India 61 34 25 1 1 57.50
Netherlands 17 2 15 - - 11.76
India have won 34 and lost 25 out of 61 played (winning % 57.50) - NR 1 and Tied 1
Netherlands have won 2 and lost 15 out of 17 contested (winning % 11.76).
ODIs played in 2011
India's winning % is 56.25 - four wins and three losses apart from one tied game out of eight played.
Netherlands have lost all three games this year - all at the world cup.
Approaching milestones
- Sachin Tendulkar (1982) requires 18 runs to become the first batsman to complete 2,000 runs in the world cup.
- Sachin (19) needs just one hundred to become the first batsman to register 20 centuries at home.
- Yuvraj Singh (99 wickets + 7797) needs just one wicket to complete the double of 7000 runs and 100 wickets.
- Harbhajan Singh (248) needs two wickets to complete his 250 wickets in ODIs.
- Dhoni (5873) requires 127 runs to complete his 6000 runs in ODIs
- Tendulkar (190) requires one six to overtake Sourav Ganguly's tally of 190 sixes. At present, both share an Indian record for most sixes in ODIs.
