The T20 World Cup 2021 is near us as the some of the top T20 sides from around the world will compete to be crowned the T20 World Cup Champion.
Originally the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup was scheduled to be played in India, however, considering the COVID situation in India, the BCCI and the ICC agreed to move the tournament to UAE and Oman.
The T20 World Cup 2021 will feature some new teams this edition, while some teams, who have played World Cup in any format before, who are unknown to most of the cricket fans will also be seen battling it out.
And one among them is the Namibian Cricket Team. The Namibian will be making its first appearance in the T20 World Cup but has already featured in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
Namibia qualified for the T20 World Cup 2021 through the qualifiers that were held in 2019. They defeated the Oman cricket team to seal their berth in their first ever T20 World Cup.
Namibian players to watch out for in T20 World Cup 2021
The Namibian cricket team comes into the tournament with a mixed squad of experience and youth. Today, we take a look at the 5 Namibian players that you must watch out for in the T20 World Cup 2021.
1. Gerhard Erasmus
The first player to watch out for will the Namibian cricket team captain Gerhard Erasmus. The 26-year-old has been given the duty to lead the team in the World Cup.
Gerhard Erasmus, who can do bit of wicket-keeping alongside batting, has played 19 T20 International matches ever since Namibia was given the full T20I status by the ICC. In the 19 matches, the right-hand batsman has scored 484 runs with 5 half-centuries, he is also the highest scorer for Namibia in T20I format. He has got amongst the wicket as well as he has picked up 12 wickets in as many matches.
2. David Wiese
David Wiese is very well known name to all the cricket fans. Yes, it is the same David Wiese that used to play for South Africa, but will be competing for the Namibian national cricket team in the upcoming T20 World Cup, after he was cleared by ICC to participate in the competition for Namibia.
David Wiese has represented South Africa for couple of years in the limited overs cricket. The all-rounder has played 6 ODI’s and 23 T20I’s, in which he has scored 102 runs and 112 runs and has taken 9 and 27 wickets respectively.
3. Bernard Scholtz
The right-arm slow orthodox bowler Bernard Martinus Scholtz, or Bernard Scholtz is another player who can be a key player for the Namibian side.
He has so far played 8 One Day International matches and 17 T20 Internationals so far Namibia after Namibia were given ODI and T20I status. He has picked up 11 and 26 wickets in ODI and T20I respectively. His record is very good in domestic cricket as well, he has picked up 235 wickets in first class cricket and 121 wickets in List A (One Day) cricket.
4. Craig Williams
37-year-old Craig Williams is the oldest player in the Namibia’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2021. The right hand batsman will want to help Namibia with all his experience.
He has so far played 8 ODI matches and has scored 267 runs and 508 runs in 19 T20I matches with a strike rate of 129.3. In the domestic T20 cricket, he has played just 2 short of 100 matches and has scored 2254 runs.
5. Jan Frylinch
While captain Gerhard Erasmus is the leading run scorer for Namibia in T20 International cricket after they were given the full T20I status, it is Jan Frylinck who is the leading wicket taker for the side in the format and will have a big role to play.
The left-arm fast medium bowler has played 20 T20 International matches since 2019, when Namibia got full T20I status, and has picked up 35 wickets with an economy rate of just 5.89.
The Namibia cricket team will kick-off its T20 World Cup 2021 campaign on 18th October against Sri Lanka. They have been placed in Group A alongside Sri Lanka, Ireland and Netherlands. And only the top 2 will make it to the Super 12 round, where the top 8 ICC T20 ranking teams will enter the competition.
