Pakistan team is a beatable side, says Netherlands coach Ryan Cook

Netherlands coach Ryan Cook thinks Pakistan is a beatable side as they have this belief after Zimbabwe handed the one-run loss to the Men in Green few days back at the T20 World Cup.

Babar Azam-led side will take on the Netherlands on Sunday at Perth Stadium in a must-win match as they’ve lost both their games against India and Zimbabwe. Cook opined his side is confident of a good show against Pakistan.

“I think every team wants to win the game that they play. But we've obviously seen that Pakistan team is beatable, so that's good to know,” he said when asked if he would be hoping to repeat what Zimbabwe did.

“Obviously, playing them in the World Super League not so long ago in the Netherlands has given us a lot of confidence because we came quite close in those matches. Hoping to get over the line this time. It would be great,” he added.

Cook has pinned hopes on his fast bowling battery and thinks they can surprise Pakistan batteres.

“Our bowling attack is firing well, and hopefully we can keep taking more wickets to give ourselves a bit more time at the back end to be able to make some inroads into the Pakistan batting order,” he said.

Cook said that they faced Pakistan in August and they have idea about how the things will go.

“Pakistan bowlers have a lot of paces, and we've faced them before, so we're more familiar with what they have to throw at us,” he said.

“They do have a very well-varied attack, so we'll be having to put our plans in place for them. Obviously, all the different batters are coming up with their individual plans against them and practicing those in the nets, so we'll be able to bring them out tomorrow in the match,” the Netherlands’ coach added.

Cook concluded by adding that he is confident and positive that if the Netherlands does things well, then it can overcome Pakistan.

“I suppose both teams start on zero points tomorrow, and both teams are even in that regard,” he said.

“It's not up to us how they play, but we can control how we play, and I think that's really the most important part that we follow those processes and make sure that we tick those boxes for ourselves,” Cook concluded.