Pieter Seelaar has played 57 One-Day Internationals and 77 Twenty-20 Internationals for the Netherlands, but most Indian cricket fans will remember him for his victory against India in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi.
The Netherlands’ left-arm spinner caused India a fright at Feroz Shah Kotla when he removed India’s top three batsmen, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Yusuf Pathan, all inside two overs.
Before Yuvraj Singh (51 not out) lead India to a comfortable five-wicket victory, there was a deafening hush in the stadium. From his ten overs, Seelaar finished with a fantastic figure of three/53.
Because of a recurring back injury, Seelaar, 34, announced his retirement from international cricket.
“Since 2020 my back problems got worse to such an extent that – much to my regret – I am no longer able to give everything I’ve got,” After Netherland’s six-wicket loss to England in the second One-Day International, Seelaar said.
📢 ANNOUNCEMENT
Captain Pieter Seelaar announces his retirement
from international cricket due to persistent back injury.More ➡️ https://t.co/tP9bffXDhc#ThankyouPieter ♥️ pic.twitter.com/pnSAHisAmx
— Cricket🏏Netherlands (@KNCBcricket) June 19, 2022
In 2005, Seelaar made his debut for the Dutch national team. He took over as captain from Peter Borren in 2018. Seelaar is most known for being an accurate, cost-effective, and efficient left-arm spinner. He also worked hard on his hitting throughout the years, eventually earning a slot in the middle of the order.
Seelaar was a member of the team that notably thrashed England in the T20 World Cup opener at Lord’s in 2009 and the same tournament five years later in Bangladesh.
For the Netherlands, Pieter Seelaar’s best bowling efforts have been four wickets for 15 runs in ODIs and four wickets for 19 runs in T20Is. With the bat, he had the highest batting average of 138 runs batted in.
In a four-day encounter against Hong Kong for the ICC Intercontinental Cup in February 2017, he achieved that grade. He contributed 288 runs for the sixth wicket with Ben Cooper, which was still a respectable partnership.
