New Delhi, (UNI) A day ahead of their evening World Cup clash against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here, Namibia’s cricket team trained in the 2-5 pm slot on Wednesday, citing lack of night practice facilities as a potential concern.
Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus highlighted that his side had not been allocated a night training session leading up to the high-profile evening fixture on Thursday.
Namibia had played an 11 AM match against the Netherlands at the same venue on February 10 and opted to practice the following day in the afternoon slot, which, according to Erasmus, does not allow players to adjust to conditions under floodlights.
“Yeah, we haven’t been given a night training session before this game. I don’t know why. India has two night training sessions, and I see Canada will have a night session as well, so make of that what you want. We’ll just rock up and do it our Namibian way, which is to fight,” Erasmus said on the eve of the game.
The captain also pointed out infrastructural limitations in Namibia, where floodlit facilities for day-night matches are unavailable. “Infrastructure-wise, it’s probably the challenge for us. Barring the guys who played in the Nepal Premier League, ILT20, and World Cups, you don’t really get accustomed to lights and training under them very often,” he added.
India, in contrast, trained in the 6-9 PM slot on February 10 and 11. Canada also used the same evening slot on Wednesday, ahead of their 3 PM game against UAE in Delhi on February 13.
Namibia’s next two group matches are scheduled for 3 PM starts – against USA in Chennai on February 15 and Pakistan in Colombo on February 18. UNI BDN SSP
Namibia flags lack of night practice ahead of India WC clash
