Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus has criticized the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not providing his team a night training session before their evening T20 World Cup 2026 match against India.
Namibia will come face to face against India at 6:30 PM today, 12 February, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, marking their only night fixture in the marquee tournament.
Namibia had earlier started their World Cup campaign with a morning 10:30 AM match against the Netherlands on 10 February in Delhi before preparing for the high-profile clash against India.
Although the Gerhard Erasmus-led side chose to rest after their opening match, they decided to train on the eve of the India game but were allocated an afternoon slot from 2 PM to 5 PM.
Erasmus questioned why Namibia were not granted a night session, pointing out that India had two night training sessions while Canada also trained under lights at the same venue.
“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,” he said.
He said Namibia do not have floodlight facilities back home and explained that limited infrastructure makes it challenging for players to adjust quickly to day-night matches under lights.
Despite the setback, Erasmus said his team would approach the contest in their own fighting style, adding that a few players gained limited experience under lights in other leagues and tournaments.
Namibia will return to afternoon matches after facing India, with fixtures against the United States in Chennai on 15 February and Pakistan in Colombo on 18 February, both starting at 2:30 PM.
