ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: M1: NED vs PAK at Colombo on 07/02/26 - Page 2

Thank you Raji for the thread and for tagging me.

Now, for sports lovers, the coming month is very busy with match threads, discussions, etc.

Pakistan are looking quite good as a unit for the tournament. They are led by Salman Agha and all of its players are looking in prime form. They have good chances to qualify for the Semi Finals.

Players to look out for:

1. Saim Ayub - He is a very capable top order batter, who can score at a rapid pace in T20 cricket. Ayub can also inflict a lot of damage with the ball in hand.

2. Abrar Ahmed - He is one of the best T20 spinners in the world. Ahmed is in good form and he should perform very well in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.

Current Form Netherlands:

Warm up Matches - Netherlands haven't had great outing in the warm up matches. They lost one against Zimbabwe while the other one against Australia was washed off due to rain.

Netherlands are currently placed at 13th position on ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings with a rating of 182.

When it comes to T20I's, Netherlands are in an ordinary form.

Netherlands are not the strongest of the teams but they can still spring out a surprise or two against its opponents in the World Cup.

Players to look out for:

1. Michael Levitt - He has been a prolific run scorer for Netherlands in the last 2 years. Levitt can score freely at the top and exert a lot of pressure on to the opposition.

2. Logan van Beek - He looked in great form in the recently concluded Super Smash competition. Beek can make an impact with both bat and the ball in the upcoming matches.

Cricket Match Predictions* - PrePlay

Who will win the toss? – Netherlands

Who will win? – Pakistan

Top Batter (Runs Scored) – Salman Agha (Pakistan), Colin Ackermann (Netherlands)

Top Bowler (Wickets taken) - Abrar Ahmed (Pakistan), Roelof van der Merve (Netherlands)

Most Sixes – Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan), Scott Edwards (Netherlands)

Player of the Match – Abrar Ahmed (Pakistan)

Team Scores Batting first – Netherlands 140+, Pakistan 165+

Match Handicap : Pakistan

20 teams, 4 groups, top two from each group to play in super eights which is divided into two groups, toppers from each group to play 2 semi finals, and winners of the semi finals will play the finals.

The wait. is. over! The biggest international T20 carnival is here and it's as big and diverse as it gets. It's the stage that could show us new champions, names we remember and matches we never forget. Defending champions have never won the comp before and it's been three editions since we had a new champion. This edition, the first in India since 2016 and in Sri Lanka, will provide answers to questions around all that. What better way to begin than the champions from 2009, Pakistan, taking on Netherlands, who'd stunned the cricket world then and then again in 2022?!

A bunch of kids are running out into the ground with folded flags. The music is on as they take their positions, ready to unfurl the flags. "Can toy feel the drill?" are the words sung as the 20 flags are fully out. The training is going in full flow all around. A man wearing black and what seem to be jetpack-like things is flying around the ground. He has the World Cup Trophy strapped to his torso, he smiles while hovering around the perimeter of the ground.

Stadium DJ doing his best to disturb those looking for a Saturday morning lie in. But seems to be serving the intended the purpose as a slow trickle of curious passersby trickle in. Of course, free entry today at the SCC. And yeah, weather is pretty ideal (for now).

20 teams. 4 groups. 8 venues. 55 matches. An action-packed month awaits with thirteen triple-headers delivering 40 group stage matches, followed by the Super 8 stage and then the knockouts - semis and the final. The 10th edition of the ICC Men’s World Cup is here. It's being hosted jointly by India and Sri Lanka. And to kick things off, we have Pakistan - the 2009 champions, taking on the Netherlands - the top-ranked Associate side. Before we proceed further, you shouldn't miss this statistical piece by Roshan Gede (plugged above) that captures the tournament's extremes, evolutions and enduring moments

Pakistan - the 2009 champions and the two-time runners-up - suffered a shock group-stage exit in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup. Since then, they’ve rung in some drastic changes Mohammad Rizwan and Haris Rauf are no longer part of the squad. Babar Azam won’t be batting in the top order. They've assembled a potent spin-bowling attack which is expected to outshine the pacers. Captain Salman Agha has been batting aggressively since promoting himself to number three and that's had a positive impact on the team. They had a clear template in the recently-concluded T20I series where they whitewashed Australia 3-0 - post an above-par total batting first and then choke the opposition with spin to defend it comfortably. Spin-friendly pitches were prepared in Lahore to mirror Sri Lankan conditions. If Pakistan indeed go ahead and forfeit the game against India, they can't afford to have any slip-ups against the other teams.