Rod Lyall 17/04/24
Punjab Rotterdam topped the Topklasse T20 table last year jointly with HCC, although both eventually lost their semi-finals. Punjab, who have merged with Rotterdam neighbours Ghausia Feyenoord over the winter, will unquestionably be strengthened by the return of Jonathan Vandiar from HCC, and by the arrival of Dutch international Musa Ahmad from Voorburg.
Musa, the leading scorer in the T20 round robin last year with 348 runs at an average of 58.00 and a strike rate of nearly 128, will slot into a Zulfiqar-heavy Punjab top order alongside the returning Shoiab Minhas and potentially Stephan Myburgh, who is rumoured to be mulling a competitive return. Although Vandiar had a very quiet campaign for the Diepput club, is always at his most menacing at ‘t Zomercomplex.
The Ghausia merger has also boosted Punjab’s squad list significantly, most notably with allrounder Danish Ateeq, who hit 295 runs with a strike rate of almost 188 in last season’s Eerste Klasse T20 as well as claiming 14 wickets, and Bilal Saleem, whose 405 runs at 57.86 and a strike rate of over 150; it will be interesting to see whether either or both of these players force themselves into the new-look Punjab side.
The same applies to Sajjad Kamal who, like Musa, moves to ‘t Zomercomplex from Voorburg; he found himself in the seconds at Westvliet last year, but he, too, may be a contender for a first-team with Punjab. He’ll also be facing competition from Belgian international Burhan Niaz, who makes the switch from VOC.
Then, inevitably, there are the four Zulfiqars, triplets Asad, Saqib and Sikander and elder brother Rehmat: they have collectively anchored the top order in the years since they moved from ACC, while Sikander’s brisk pace and Saqib’s leg spin have both contributed substantially to Punjab’s attack.
Sikander takes over the captaincy from the veteran Sulaiman Tariq this season, though the former skipper will doubtless still have plenty to contribute with the ball. Together with Muhammad Shafiq and the greatly-improved Mubashar Hussain, Tariq’s wiley medium pace accounted for the lion’s share of the wickets last year; the trio took 42 between them, two-thirds of those captured by the side in their eight games.
A slightly unkind draw gives Punjab only three games at ‘t Zomercomplex, where they are undoubtedly at their most effective, but they are well adapted to the T20 format and it would be no surprise if they were again to make it to the finals day.
T20 Record: 2023 SF | ’22 GS | ’21 SF | ’20 QF | ’19 QF | ’18 GS | ’17 SF | ’16 N/A | ’15 N/A | ’14 N/A
HCC have opted for a triple Antipodean strengthening of their squad, recruiting New Zealanders Adam Leonard and Jed Wiggins and South Australian Conor McInerney to compensate them for the non-return of Daniel Doram and the departures of Vandiar to Punjab, left-arm spinner Clayton Floyd to VRA and medium-pacer Henrico Venter to HBS.
27-year-old allrounder Leonard has played three Plunket Shield matches for Wellington since moving across the Cook Strait from Nelson, while off-spinner Wiggins, two years younger, has appeared alongside him in Wellington’s A side.
Left-hander McInerney, aged 30, has played 15 times for South Australia, most recently in the State’s final Sheffield Shield match of the season, against Tasmania in Hobart, and has just completed a successful Premier League campaign with his new club, Glenelg, helping them to the grand final.
HCC will also welcome back pace man Ali Ahmad Qasim, who has played for Voorburg for the past four seasons, but who claimed Topklasse 89 wickets for the Lions between 2011 and 2019.
In addition to their three overseas players the Diepput club will be looking to Boris Gorlee and Tonny Staal to show the form which earned them both national team selection, and will also hope to see further progress from youngster Teun Kloppenburg, who demonstrated with three consecutive half-centuries last season that he has the temperament to succeed at the top level and who has the hard-hitting skills to be a force in the T20 format.
Nor should we forget allrounder Hidde Overdijk, who as well as being the spearhead of the pace attack has contributed crucial innings in both formats and has the ability to turn a game very quickly, while younger brother Jan-Wieger may take a further step towards establishing himself as a permanent fixture in the side.
Zimbabwean Patient Charumbira gives valuable support in the pace attack, while the return of Ratha Alphonse to Kampong is likely to mean that we will again see Yash Patel behind the stumps.
Having reached the final of the 50-over competition and the semi-finals of the T20 Cup last year, HCC will be especially keen to pick up some silverware this time, and they certainly have the strength on paper to once again challenge for either or both titles.
T20 Record: 2023 SF | ’22 SF | ’21 GS | ’20 GS | ’19 QF | ’18 SF | ’17 QF | ’16 SF | ’15 SF | ’14 SF
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