Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus has voiced frustration over the scheduling of training sessions ahead of his side’s high-profile T20 World Cup clash against hosts and favourites India, revealing that his team were not given a single opportunity to practise under lights despite the match being a night fixture. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The associate nation had played a day game against the Netherlands earlier in the week, and their subsequent training sessions were also held during daylight hours — a contrast to India, who trained twice at night in the lead-up to the contest.
“Yeah, we haven’t been given a night training before this game, I don’t know why,” Erasmus said on Wednesday, hinting at the disparity. “I think India has two night training sessions and I see outside that Canada will have a night training now, so make of that what you want, but we’ll just rock up and do our Namibian way, which is to fight.”The issue is particularly significant for Namibia, who rarely experience day-night conditions due to limited infrastructure back home. Erasmus admitted that adjusting to floodlights is not a routine part of their preparation.
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“We haven’t got any lights in Namibia… infrastructure wise it’s probably the challenge for us, so yeah it’s not a casual thing for guys that don’t have experience,” he explained, noting that only players involved in overseas leagues like the Nepal Premier League or ILT20 get regular exposure to such conditions.Namibia enter the match looking to recover from an opening loss to the Netherlands, while India arrive as overwhelming favourites in front of a home crowd. With upcoming fixtures against USA and Pakistan scheduled as afternoon games, Erasmus acknowledged that adapting quickly to night conditions will be a challenge — but insisted his side will embrace the fight regardless of the odds.
