Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus questions training schedule ahead of India clash

New Delhi: Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus has expressed displeasure over his team's training schedule ahead of Thursday's Men’s T20 World Cup match against India, saying that they didn’t get an opportunity to practice under floodlights at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Namibia lost their opening match to the Netherlands by seven wickets on Tuesday in a morning fixture. Coach Craig Williams had indicated the team planned an evening training session to prepare for the day-night encounter against India, the defending champions.

However, Namibia were allocated an afternoon practice slot on Wednesday while India trained during evening hours both days leading up to the contest. In a further twist, Canada – who will face the UAE in a 3 pm start on Friday - were trained alongside India under lights.

“We haven’t got any night games or day and night games in Namibia. Infrastructure-wise, maybe that is the big challenge for us. Barring the guys that have played in the Nepal Premier League or the ILT20, or at a World Cup before, not many are accustomed to playing under the lights.”

“We have not been given a night training before this game. India had two, and today, Canada (before their game against the UAE on Friday afternoon) has one too (this evening). Make of that what you want… We are just going to rock up and do it the Namibian way, which is to fight,” said Erasmus in the pre-match press conference.

He also called on his younger players to embrace the occasion and stay in the moment when they face India in front of an expected 40,000-strong crowd. Erasmus acknowledged the magnitude of the occasion while insisting his team should not be overawed by their star-studded opponents. (IANS)

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