Uncapped Sybrand Engelbrecht named in Netherlands' World Cup squad

The Netherlands have announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup. They have included uncapped all-rounder Sybrand Engelbrecht, while the experienced duo of Colin Ackermann and Roelof van der Merwe return. The trio were not part of the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe earlier this year, where the Dutch finished runners-up to book their spot for the mega event in India in October-November. 

Born in Johannesburg, Engelbrecht, an off-spinner and right-handed batter, was part of the 12-member team that recently was in Bangalore as part of a spin bowling camp along with his skipper Scott Edwards, batters Max O'Dowd and Teja Nidamanuru, among others.

Speaking of his inclusion, head coach Ryan Cook said, "SA [Engelbrecht]  and I have walked a long journey together, I coached him back when he was at the Cobras. He moved out to the Netherlands a few years back and has been here plying his trade since, we enquired with the ICC about his eligibility about a month ago. It's fantastic just to broaden the player pool, he's been doing very well for his club here and put in some good performances against Guernsey for the A side."

Notably, left-arm pacer Fred Klasssen and pacer Timm van der Gugten have not been included in the 15. The duo were part of the T20 World Cup squad in Australia last year, where the Netherlands created history, beating Zimbabwe and South Africa to secure automatic qualification for the mega event next year. Tim Pringle, the left-arm spinner who missed the World Cup Qualifiers due to an injury, also does not find a place in the squad.

It is understood that Klaassen is out due to a stress fracture while van der Gugten has made himself unavailable due to family commitments.

The Dutch kickstart their World Cup campaign agianst Pakistan in Hyderabad on October 6. They are, however, scheduled to play a couple of warm-up matches - first against Australia (September 30) and then against hosts India (October 3) - both in Thiruvananthapuram. 

The Netherlands squad will return to India on September 19 for a camp in Alur before heading to Thiruvananthapuram on September 28. 22-year-old medium-pacer Kyle Klein and wicketkeeper Noah Croes are in the reserves.

Netherlands squad for World Cup: Netherlands squad: Scott Edwards (c & wk), Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht.

Travelling reserves: Kyle Klein, Noah Croes