Ackerman: Part of Netherlands' DNA is that we take ownership

Netherlands gave Pakistan a tough fight in their first match of the T20 World Cup 2026 and at one stage were very close to winning the game. However, in the end, they suffered a heartbreaking defeat. After the loss, Netherlands bowler Paul van Meekeren said that Pakistan did not really win the match, but rather the Netherlands lost it themselves.

Even so, Netherlands believe they have now moved on from that defeat. Speaking on the eve of their match against Namibia in Delhi, Netherlands allrounder Colin Ackermann said, "Yes, it was naturally a very disappointing result for us. But the nature of this tournament is that the games come thick and fast. So we've parked that. Part of the DNA of this Netherlands team is that we take ownership of our performances and our roles, and we learn from past experiences.

"When we got off the bus in Delhi, coach Ryan Cook said 'The past is the past. There's nothing we can do about it and we must look forward to the next game against Namibia.'"

Pakistan needed 29 runs in the last two overs with only three wickets in hand. But on the second ball of the 19th over, Max O'Dowd dropped Faheem Ashraf's catch at long-off. Ashraf went on to become the hero of Pakistan's win. After the dropped catch, he scored 20 runs off six balls and was named Player of the Match.

When Ackermann was asked whether O'Dowd was doing fine now, and whether the dropped catch was the turning point of the match, he downplayed those factors. He was also asked whether the team had done any extra fielding practice after arriving in Delhi, which he denied.

"No, there hasn't been extra fielding practice," he said. "We only got to Delhi yesterday. But Max is good. There were obviously many other moments in the game where we could have done better. If we look at the last five overs of our batting, if we had added another 15-20 runs, that could have been the difference. There are around 240 moments in a T20 game, so we need to be better in those other moments as well.

"I think we were on track for a total of around 170 after the 15-over mark. We had only lost three or four wickets for about 125 runs. It just didn't happen for us on the day. One of the strengths of this team is that we have quite a few allrounders who can bat deep. So I think that game was a bit of an outlier. We spoke about it in the batting meeting this morning, and we'll look to rectify it in the coming games."

For this World Cup, the Netherlands have also added a psychologist, Tom Dawson-Squibb, to their backroom staff, who can help players in such situations. Ackermann said that he has been doing excellent work for the team.

He said, "Tom has been a great addition to the coaching staff. He works with us off the field to help us get the best out of ourselves. We've developed a technique where each of us has two words that mean a lot to us out in the middle. Those words are printed on the inside of our playing shirts. So whenever you're in doubt or lacking clarity, you can look at them. He's worked with us in that regard, and there are a few other things as well, but I won't go into those here."

Netherlands played their match against Pakistan in Colombo on February 7, travelled to Delhi on February 8, practiced on February 9 and have their next match on February 10. After that, they will travel first to Chennai and then to Ahmedabad for their remaining matches. They are one of the few teams in the tournament whose matches are spread across different venues. However, Ackermann does not see this as a major issue.

"We knew coming into this tournament that we'd be playing four games in four different venues, so communication is key once the game starts tomorrow," he said.

India and Pakistan are in the same group as Netherlands. Netherlands will face India on February 18 in Ahmedabad. Ackermann said that the team believes they can put up a strong fight.

"We have great self-belief as a team," he said. "We've shown in the past that we can compete with Test nations, so there's a lot of confidence in the group. This group has worked extremely hard over the last six months to become the best version of themselves, and I'm sure you'll see that in the next three games. Our goal in this World Cup is to reach the semi-finals. I believe we have the team and the skills to achieve that. It hasn't started in the best way, but we still have three big games ahead."