If he were playing for any established nations, Ryan would have been a household name thanks to his pyrotechnics. A superb all-rounder, Ryan can be a ballistic striker with the bat, bowls right arm medium fast that surprises the batsmen and is a competent fielder.

Ten Doeschate was discovered by Essex when they went on a pre-season tour of South Africa. His all-round abilities for Western Province caught their eyes. He is qualified to play county cricket by virtue of holding an EU citizenship. Ryan averages an impressive 67 in ODI cricket, the best amongst the present day batsmen. His average is a bit skewed as Netherlands rarely get an opportunity to play the big boys of cricket.

A T20 freelancer, Ryan has played in almost all cricketing nations displaying his immense talent. He represents the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. He was retained by the Kolkata team during the 2014 IPL auctions.

It is no wonder that Ryan has been described as the best associate player amongst all the non-Test playing nations. ten Doeschate made a splash in the 2011 ICC WC scoring 2 centuries. One of them was against the highly rated English team, a fine career best knock of 119. This was also his first ever century against a Test playing nation.

Despite not having a regular dose of international cricket, Ryan remains one of the most committed players for Netherlands and will hope to sustain his already impressive track record. However, Ten Doeschate had a fall out with the team management before the 2014 T20 WC, after which he opted not to play and decided to play domestic cricket in New Zealand during the same period.

Ten Doeschate over the captain’s armband in both the 50 and 20 over versions of the game from James Foster for the 2014 season for Essex.

By Pradeep Krishnamurthy
As of April 2014