Roelof van der Merwe: South Africa once had a dream of winning the World Cup, today played an important role in defeating it

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.