The sky's the limit for Netherlands' Zach of all trades

A 20-team World Cup brings diverse characters together on the global stage. Canada have a hard-hitting batter named after Yuvraj Singh. Italy have a fast bowler who has his mentor Dennis Lillee's World series gold chain dangling around his neck. India have a mystery spinner who has made a cameo appearance in a movie. But nobody, perhaps, has a bio that is as exciting as Netherlands allrounder Zach Lion-Cachet's.

Lion-Cachet's father Chad represented the Netherlands rugby team, while his mother Sarah Loosemore is a former British No. 1 in tennis. Before becoming a Netherlands international in cricket, the Oxford-born Lion-Cachet was an aspiring footballer and was even on Southampton's books until he was 16. During his time at Southampton, he even crossed paths with Jude Bellingham when Real Madrid's superstar midfielder was learning the ropes at Birmingham City.

And, oh, Lion-Cachet's cousin Keagan Lion-Cachet plays for Paarl Royals in the SA20.

"Yeah, I used to play football when I was younger, a lot younger at the time, since I was ten years," Lion-Cachet said after Netherlands' T20 World Cup match against USA in Chennai. "And then obviously my parents were sportspeople in their own right. I came into cricket and playing for the Netherlands is my full focus now. I hope to do well in this tournament."

Lion-Cachet has had a quiet start to his first World Cup - he has managed just 15 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 115.38 to go with zero wickets in the solitary over of offspin he has bowled - but he has been identified as an allrounder with a high ceiling.

After Gary Kirsten worked with Lion-Cachet in Cape Town, he recommended the youngster's name to Netherlands head coach Ryan Cook and told him of his Dutch heritage.

"Yeah, it's been fantastic to have Zach as part of our team," Cook said at a press conference. "He's come in and really mixed well with the guys, first and foremost. He's got great skill and a lot of potential going forward. Bowls, bats and fields, which is something that we pride ourselves on, and offers us a total cricket package. So, you know, very exciting to see what can happen with him in the future."

You can see why he is rated so highly. In the first-ever triple Super Over in any men's professional match - T20 or List A - Lion-Cachet came up clutch. Tasked with the responsibility of the third Super Over, Lion-Cachet delivered a double-wicket maiden with his flat, fastish offspin. Darting the ball in from around the wicket to right-hand batters, he cleverly hid the ball away from the swinging arcs of Rohit Paudel and Rupesh Singh.

"He's given me confidence to go out there and express myself and play a brand of cricket that I want to play," Lion-Cachet said of Cook's hand in his growth. "Unfortunately, tonight [against USA] wasn't meant to be. But the way he's supported me and allowed me to grow and helped me huge amounts with my game, I owe a lot to him."

Lion-Cachet also benefitted from former Zimbabwe batter Grant Flower's inputs during the time they spent together at Sussex.

"Grant Flower has been a massive help for me while I was at Sussex with all his knowledge and experience that he's had while playing," Lion-Cachet said. "He passed a lot of that on to me. And as I go through my journey, I'm just trying to pick up as much knowledge and learning as possible from every experience I have and apply that to my game."

Netherlands tried to fast-track Lion-Cachet's development by calling him up for a batting camp in Mumbai and a spin camp at the CSK academy in Chennai in the lead-up to his maiden World Cup. Netherlands have played their three games in three different venues - Colombo, Delhi and Chennai - and are preparing to play their fourth, against India, in Ahmedabad, which has both black- and red-soil pitches.

"Well, we've travelled quite a lot. We've played in three different locations now and all have been [in] slightly different conditions," Lion-Cachet said. "So we've all had to adapt pretty quickly and sort of learn on the go. Each game we have a training session where a lot of knowledge and information is passed around the group for us to best prepare ourselves for the game."

While Netherlands' first T20I defeat to USA has dented their chances of making the Super Eight stage, Lion-Cachet said that their bonhomie will help them overcome the setback and regroup for the game against India in Ahmedabad on February 18.

"Yes, we're a very close group," Lion-Cachet said. "We support each other through everything. We weren't good enough against USA and our full focus is now on India in Ahmedabad. That's something we're all really looking forward to behind the lights again. So we'll take the learnings and try and implement those in the game."