Roelof van der Merwe: South Africa once had a dream of winning the World Cup, today played an important role in defeating it
South Africa vs Netherlands, World Cup 2023: Former South African player Roelof van der Merwe defeated the Proteas while playing for the Netherlands. Van der Merwe, who once dreamed of helping South Africa win the World Cup, played an important role for the Netherlands in this upset.
You must have heard this saying many times from your elders, 'Lanka dhaaye (the piercing of the house)'. This taunt is inflicted upon someone when someone goes against one's own and fights against him. Like in Ramayana, Ravana's brother Vibhishan supported Lord Shri Ram and told Shri Ram how Ravana would be killed.
Something similar happened in the 15th match of the World Cup 2023 played between South Africa and the Netherlands. In this match, former South African player Roelof van der Merwe, playing for the Netherlands, defeated the Proteas. Van der Merwe, who once dreamed of helping South Africa win the World Cup, played an important role for the Netherlands in this upset.
Van der Merwe was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He entered international cricket while playing domestic cricket in South Africa. He played Under-19 cricket for South Africa and then he was also a part of the 'South Africa-A' team. He made his international debut in the year 2009. He played a lot of cricket for the Proteas from 2009 to 2015, but due to not getting consistent opportunities, this left-arm spin all-rounder left his team and made his way to the Netherlands.
Van der Merwe once told the Indian Express that he was not selected for the 2011 World Cup. Then he felt very bad. After this, he did not get many opportunities in the South African team. So he decided to shift to the Netherlands. “Obviously, my mother is Dutch,” Van der Merwe said. This is where my desire to play for Holland comes from. The decision to switch was not an easy one for me. But he was not getting opportunities in the African team. At that time, it was the best decision for my family.
Van der Merwe played his last game for South Africa in June 2010. In the year 2015, this player made his debut for the Netherlands. From then till now he has been an important part of the squad of this Dutch team. In this historic match against Africa, Roelof van der Merwe took two wickets for just 34 runs in 9 overs.
