32-year-old Sebastiaan Braat, the senior-most member of the Dutch squad touring Bangladesh, has fought his way back into international cricket after four long years. The right-arm seamer, known for his big-hitting down the order and electric fielding, last featured for the Netherlands in 2021, despite earning his first national call-up at a young age. But regular opportunities at the top level never really came his way.
Now, according to sources within the Dutch camp, Braat is on the brink of a comeback, with a possible return in the T20I series finale against Bangladesh.
On a scorching Tuesday morning in Dhaka, Braat sat down with The Daily Times of Bangladesh to reflect on his cricketing journey. In a candid conversation, he opened up about the struggles of being away from the team, why his love for the game has never waned, and how he came to terms with not quite becoming the allrounder he once aspired to be. Here are the excerpts
How is the experience so far in Bangladesh? I guess it’s your first time here?
Yeah, it’s the first time. I’ve been to India twice. But this is a bit different. We’re playing in a stadium and there’s a lots of fans and people cheering and it’s very warm, I would say, even warmer than in India. So it’s a bit of a different experience. But it’s very, very good, yeah.
Sebastiaan, six years away from international cricket, how does it feel to be back in the Netherlands squad? Especially in a series against Bangladesh…
Yeah, fantastic. I think my last games were in 2021. So 4 years ago, and yeah, obviously training really hard to really get back into this group because I love being around the guys, but especially also just being around that high level of Cricket, and then if you can do it in Bangladesh, even better.
How have you changed as a player since you last played internationally?
I obviously got a little bit older. I’m the oldest of the group, which is something new for me, but yeah, I think I’ve just gained a lot of experience. I’m a lot calm and I used to be very hyped up and still have a lot of energy, but I think in difficult situations. But in pressure situations I find calmness and peace go with my experience.
What motivated you to keep pushing? Keep pushing for the national team again?
I just love the game. I think I love being fit so I try to stay fit for myself. I think I feel the best when I’m fit and I just love the game so I just keep staying fit and I’ll keep playing cricket and try and compete wherever I can because I really want to win everything that I do so I think. To get all of that, makes me want to be here. And I got a chance again. So yeah.
You were out of international cricket, but never out of cricket.
Yes, exactly. I was never out of Cricket.
If I’m not wrong, you’ve taken 30 wickets in ‘Topklasse’ in an average of 16, was it the lifeline to get called back to the team?
I think so, I took 30 wickets in the highest level in the Netherlands, and I started the T20 series good as well, I took 15 wickets in 7 games and next year we’ve got a pro series which is basically sort of the north and south of the country against each other. I did well in that as well, so I think there is the stepping Stone into Back into national national team cricket.
I was scrolling through your Instagram last night. I have found some very interesting videos and photos of you hitting sixes, taking flying catches, uprooting the stumps. You could have been one of the finest pace-bowling allrounders, What do you think?
Yeah, maybe I think I prize myself on my fielding, which you’ve probably also seen on Instagram. So I love to be in the field and I work really hard on that. In terms of batting, I’m a hard hitting batsman. So I like to hit the ball through the boundary and bowling. I think I’m very skillful, so I think I could be one of the best allrounder in the Netherlands, but we also have to face the reality that I’m a little bit older.
So back in the days, in terms of money, it was very difficult and I had to find a job very quickly. So since I’ve been 24 years old, I’ve got a full-time job, because I need to earn money as well, which makes it very difficult.
You are a good pacer, you can hit down the batting order, you are a gunfielder too. May I say you’re that allrounder the Dutch never had?
Nah, no (laughs). I’m not. I think we have to be realistic. I think that the allrounder we are really looking for in the Netherlands is Bas de Leede, and I think he’s very, very good and he shows it time and time again. Still very young, a place in the county setups and had fantastic games like against Scotland where he took 5 wickets and scored a 100, I think that is around it that we have.
You love to hit sixes over long on & long off! And that hold the pose…
Yeah, I think I know which video you mean. It was the final of the European Championship and it was a very pressure moment and we needed to hit some boundaries and the bowler just bowled into my slot and I connected it very well and. I felt so confident that I kept the pose just to show the bowler that I’m going to win this game. I think it was quite funny to look back.
You’ve been in and out of the side despite getting into the team at an early age. You’ve come a long way, and now you’re making a comeback after quite some time. Why do you think you didn’t get more opportunities?
Yeah, difficult. I think I made my debut when I was 19 and I’m now 32, So I’ve been around for a long time but I think also the team just got better and better and you have to fight for your spot. Sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s all on the coaches to make that decision.
And I think I’ve been unlucky a little bit as well, I’ve had injuries twice. I’ve been selected to go on a tour where I was injured, I was selected to go on the tour and then COVID hit so I couldn’t go. Selected to go on a tour and then my work didn’t let me go. So that’s the reality of the game. Unfortunately, I would have had four more chances. But it didn’t go my way.
I’ve read about your leadership in Dutch domestic cricket. How do you mentor the youngsters? And with you being the oldest and Cedric the youngest, how’s the chemistry between you two?
I think our chemistry has been very, very good. I’ve been talking to Cedric quite a lot. I think it’s something that comes very naturally to me, I also do it in my job. I’m a manager in my job, so I’m very naturally taking leadership and I always like to develop other people, and I think it’s also a bit of our duty to take care of our national future. And I think Cedric is a massive prospect for our game in the future. So we need to take care of him and he’s a fantastic guy, so that makes it a lot easier as well.
Being away from the team, how do you deal with this?
Oh, it’s obviously difficult because this is the place where you want to be. I think the only thing that keeps you going is a love for the game and I think the eagerness to represent your country is a massive honor so that just keeps me going and to help the team in every way possible.
If I ask you to take one thing from Bangladesh Cricket, what would it be?
I think that if we look at their betting, we’ve been struggling with our betting quite a bit and the way they approach the game in terms of batting and the options that they use during betting is something that they do really well, and I think that we have to take that into our games as well
