New Delhi: Mindful of Sachin Tendulkar`s ability and having watched Yuvraj Singh`s all-round show, the Netherlands skipper Peter Borren says his bowlers would look to get the two India batsmen out early when they face off in a group B match of the cricket World Cup here on Tuesday.
Borren conceded that it would be quite an uphill task for the European nation to beat the world number two side.
"Sachin is a legend and on top of his game in the World Cup, and he is someone everyone around here in the tournament and people like us look to play against. He is a great player," Borren said on the eve of the match at the Feroze Shah Kotla here.
"But at the same time he is a batsman who can be dismissed like other batsmen and we are looking forward to that. Any of our bowlers having the opportunity to dismiss him and that will be a great entertainment. You need to take your chances against these guys and we are hoping that on Tuesday it`s going to be the case," he added.
"About Yuvraj he is a dangerous player. He got a few runs the other night. He also picked up five wickets. So you need to create plans for these guys. You need to get them out early," Borren told reporters at the pre-match media interaction.
The Netherlands suffered their third consecutive defeat in the tournament, against South Africa, by a massive 231-run margin in Mohali last week, but Borren said his side still harbours hopes of advancing to the knockout stage, and is looking forward to playing an "exciting" game against the co-hosts."This sort of attention and excitement around the match is something very new to us and we are not used to it. Absolutely we have not seen this much interest generating for a particular game. We are looking for an exciting game tomorrow. It`s going to be pretty unique experience for us," he said.
"Realistically, we need to take the opposition on. It`s a big challenge. Playing these guys in their conditions is going to be a task but we will try to create a surprise. We are a good side. We need to bowl a disciplined line and do some extraordinary catching and fielding. Cricket is a funny game and talented team is capable of creating an upset.”
"We are looking at the challenges ahead and a big challenge is tomorrow. If we win rest of our games from here on, we have got a realistic chance of advancing further in the tournament. Ireland and Canada have managed a win in the event and now, we are looking to have one under our belt," he said.The team was talked about in certain circles after its batsmen dished out a spirited display against England in their opening match, but Borren is disappointed that they could not do well in their last two outings.
"We are disappointed with our last few performances with the bat, especially after the England one, where we were very much near to score a win. We have a strong batting line-up that indicates that we are a good side. We need to up the ante as far as our batting is concerned.”
"Our batsmen have got one hundred and a fifty in this tournament. They have not played to their potential so we need to come out tomorrow as a unit," he said.
"We have also not fired as a bowling unit so far and that is one area we need to look at tomorrow. We need to attack new ball bowlers tomorrow," he added.
The Dutch captain didn`t divulge the details on what would be their gameplan against tomorrow, saying that they need to take several factors into account before preparing any roadmap.
"Gameplan against India is going to be different. We need to look at several factors. It`s about facing individuals from the side with regards to both batting and bowling. I think we will be discussing those things later. We have played on this ground before and we know the conditions well. I think the gameplan will be to play to our full potential," he said.
On whether they would like to bat or bowl first, the Dutch captain said, "We will look at the conditions tomorrow and then decide accordingly."
Centurion in the match against England, Ryan Ten Doeschate, when asked about the prospect of playing against his IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders` (KKR) captain Gautam Gambhir, said, "I did not get a chance to chat with him or meet him but tomorrow is a big game for us and we are concentrating on that. Every game is a big game for us. I will talk to Gautam after the match."
Ireland`s upset win over England has given a boost to all the associate nations, and Borren acknowledged that."We take inspiration from the Irish side. In their game against India, Dhoni and Yuvraj had to bat really well against them. Ireland are a very disciplined side. Hope we can learn something from them. They bat, bowl and field well."
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 09, 2011, 00:07