3 Namibia Players To Watch Out For In The Upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup

Only 2 days are left, before the start of the 9th edition of ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA, where 20 nations will take part in 55 matches for 1-month duration across three different venues in the West Indies and United States of America. However, it's the first time that 20 teams are part of the tournament and out of these teams, there is one team, that can upset the top teams of the world with the 3 skilled players, they have. Yes! We are talking about Namibia, which represents the Republic of Namibia in International cricket and became part of the Associate nation in 1992. 

Namibia is a small nation in South West  Africa, which has joined hands with ICC and soon became one of the leading ICC associate members in Africa. Talking about Namibia’s performance in the ICC event, they finished second in ICC Trophy 2001, which made them qualify for the 2003 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. However, after making  debut in the ODI match, they failed to win. But we should not forget that the Namibia team has improved year by year which we have witnessed with their performance in the 2019 WCL Division Two tournament to secure the ODI status and qualify for the 2019–2023 ICC Cricket World Cup League 2.

Later, in the 2019 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier, they finished fourth at the 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier to qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. It recorded its first World Cup victories, defeating the Netherlands and Ireland in the first round of the tournament to progress to the Super 12 stage.

Namibia will be part of Group B in the tournament, along with Australia, England, Scotland, and Oman. Australia and England will be the favourites to qualify from this group of teams into the Super Eights. However, Namibia will try to challenge the two powerhouses and prove its development in the game. Throwing light on this, there are 3 players from the Namibia team who can surprise any team with their performance and could play a key role in winning the matches for their team.

1. Gerhard Erasmus

Gerhard Erasmus is currently the Namibia Captain and is one of the top performers for the team. The Skipper is one of the most talented batters from the squad of Namibia team, who can play a crucial role in the middle order and determine how far the team's batting goes in tough matches.

Apart from the strength in the middle order, he is a wicket-taker for the team with his off-spin, which can be efficient in the middle overs.

2. David Wiese

David Wiese used to play for South Africa before joining hands with the Namibia team in 2021 as an all-rounder. However, since joining the Namibian, he has given several match-winning performances with his all-round ability.

A bowler who can bowl crucial overs in death and score some crucial runs in the lower middle order for the Namibia team with his power-hitting ability.

3. Bernard Scholtz

Bernard Scholtz is an off-spinner from the Namibian team, who can bowl some efficient spells in the middle overs, where he stays economical and also picks up wickets.