ICC, Jay Shah's efforts empower associate nations: Cricket Namibia

Cricket Namibia President Rudie van Vuuren praised the ICC and Jay Shah for their support of associate nations. Conversely, captain Gerhard Erasmus expressed disappointment over the lack of a night training session before the T20 World Cup match against India.

ICC's Support a Game-Changer for Associate Nations

Cricket Namibia President Rudie van Vuuren has praised the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Chairman Jay Shah for their efforts to empower associate nations and improve cricket infrastructure, acccording to a release. "The ICC has adopted a policy of empowering associate members. Jay Shah has really brought significant change there. He was in Windhoek visiting our new stadium and discussing how the ICC has helped us develop that facility. Now, suddenly, we have those high-performance facilities." Cricket Namibia President said.

"Africa has nations like Namibia coming forward because of the ICC's backing, so that gap will continue to narrow. We must make use of these opportunities to showcase our talent and show the world that associate members are the future of cricket," Rudie Van Vuuren added.

Training Disappointment Ahead of India Clash

Namibia skipper Gerhard Erasmus expressed disappointment as his side was not given a light training session before their ICC Men's T20 World Cup fixture against India in New Delhi. Namibia will take on the defending champions India on Thursday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Erasmus said it was a missed opportunity for Namibia, who don't have the infrastructure at home to play matches or even train under lights.

"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. Barring the guys who have played in the Nepal Premier League, ILT20 and the World Cups we have played, you don't get accustomed to lights and train under it very often," Erasmus said on the eve of the match against India.

"Yeah, we haven't been given night training before this game. I don't know why. I think India have two night trainings and I see outside that Canada are going to 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 added.

T20 World Cup squads

India Squad: Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar.

Namibia Squad: Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (captain), JJ Smit, Zane Green (wicketkeeper), Ruben Trumpelmann, Dylan Leicher, Willem Myburgh, Bernard Scholtz, Max Heingo, Malan Kruger, Ben Shikongo, Jack Brassell, Jan Balt. (ANI)

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