2023 World Cup: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today’s India vs Netherlands match ft. Mohammed Shami
Even in the World Cup of upsets and surprises, the Netherlands defeating India or coming close to it today would be a bit too much for the scriptwriters.
The Dutch have shown immense fight so far, no doubt about it. They are the only team apart from India to beat South Africa. In all their matches, captain Scott Edwards has used his limited bowling resources in a way only he could.
Some tactics have been superb to watch. Although their batting has let them down, a few heroes have put up performances that make them even more worthy of respect and opportunities to perform on the biggest stage.
But India have been at just another level. In football terms, it has always looked like they are playing with an extra player. This is when their best performances came while playing with exactly five bowlers.
In this match between David and Goliath, we predict below three bowlers who can come out with the most wickets to their name today:
#3 Mohammed Shami
He's a man who can do no wrong. Mohammed Shami recently became the fastest-ever bowler to reach 50 wickets in ODI World Cups. He did so by picking 14 wickets in three matches and followed it up with two more against South Africa.
Shami's consistency in hitting the lengths with the white ball has never been better. Combine that with his immaculate seam position, he can pick up wickets anywhere. The venue for today's match, Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium, has been flat but has supported pacers (38 wickets at 32.34) better than spinners (12 wickets at 55.91).
The Netherlands have shown a tendency to lose a lot of wickets in the first 20 overs this World Cup which has also seen the best of Shami so far. If Shami gets his rhythm right early, only horrible luck would stop him from having a big haul again.
#2 Bas de Leede
The Netherlands have some good spinners who can trouble India early on. But considering the ground they'll play in, it's hard to bet on them to take wickets against an Indian side that looks to be loving playing against spin more than ever.
Right-arm pacer Bas de Leede has been the Dutch's top wicket-taker this World Cup (14 scalps) and could continue that form today. In 2023, he has consistently been among the top wicket-takers in the world with 29 wickets at an average of 25.41.
He doesn't have a lot of pace but is extremely smart, bowls in the middle and death overs (which is where India struggles when they do), and uses his variations to get the wickets. The skiddyness and sometimes awkward bounce he generates is also deceiving for a few batters.
All of these T20-style skills are generally what you require at Chinnaswamy and could help him and the Dutch inflict some damage on India.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah
There's an off chance he might be rested but if he plays, Jasprit Bumrah is your safest and easiest choice to be the highest wicket-taker today. Teams with more established batting orders, like South Africa, tend to see him off but he builds pressure, which allows his partners to pick up wickets from the other end.
Against the Netherlands though, his pace and accuracy might prove too good. Bumrah has 15 wickets at an average of 15.53 in the World Cup so far. He'll open the bowling and would get a good crack at the shaky Dutch top-order.
Later, Rohit would use him whenever he wants to attack more, bringing more wicket-taking opportunities. This could be the perfect match for Bumrah to get a handful of more wickets under his name ahead of the semi-finals.