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Ahead of his side's ICC Men's T20 World Cup matches against Namibia and defending champions India, Netherlands all-rounder Saqib Zulfiqar spoke on the challenge faced by associate nations and expressed his excitement of competing with top teams in the tournament.
Speaking to ANI before the Netherlands' clash with Namibia, Zulfiqar reflected on their narrow three-wicket loss to Pakistan on Saturday and the progress of associate teams in the tournament. "I think it's great because as an associate nation, you always have to work a little bit harder with a little bit less money. So to come up against the best teams in the world is very nice and actually, you see where we are competing, and we could have won more matches than we actually won in this tournament already," Zulfiqar told ANI. So far in the T20 World Cup, associate nations have been able to compete really well against Test nations, with the USA testing India and restricting them to 161/9, the Netherlands almost defeating Pakistan at one point, having them down at 114/7 during a run-chase of 148. On Sunday, Nepal came close to chasing down 185 against England, falling short by four runs at 180/6 despite fiery knocks from Dipendra Singh Airee and Lokesh Bam. Zulfiqar has featured in 27 international matches for the Netherlands, taking 13 wickets and scoring 271 runs, with a best score of 34*. The Netherlands will then face Namibia on February 10 in Delhi, before taking on India and the USA later in the group. Netherlands full 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. (ANI)
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