ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021: Namibia Team Preview, Squad, Key Players And Probable Playing XI
Namibia boast of a far stronger side now than they ever did before, making them a team to not be taken for granted. The Eagles from Africa very nearly reached the finals of the Qualifiers tournament a couple of years ago, before fellow continent rivals Papua New Guinea beat them. However, the side will be without two stellar cricketers, who retired in recent months for different reasons.
JP Koetze and Zhivago Groenewald hung up their boots before hitting their 30s, with the former wanting to spend time with his young family and the latter nursing a serious knee injury. However, they still pack a punch in them, talented enough to drive them through to the next stages.
It remains unknown as to how they might respond on matchday, but this team is well capable of driving in some attention with the fearless approach. Namibia are here to entertain, and they are backed by some very experienced names in the side to do so.
Captain: Gerhard Erasmus
Head coach: Johan Rudolph
Claim to fame
They finished 4th in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019, losing to Ireland in the 3rd place match. In July 2020, the Namibia Men’s team won the ICC Associate Member Men’s Performance of the Year award and shortly after that, they gained ODI status.
Also Read: Scotland stun Bangladesh in the opening day of T20 World Cup 2021
Namibia Squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2021
Gerhard Erasmus (capt), Stephan Baard, Karl Birkenstock, Michau du Preez, Jan Frylinck, Zane Green, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, JJ Smit, Ruben Trumpelmann, Michael van Lingen, David Wiese, Craig Williams, Pikky Ya France
Strengths
They have a belligerent batting lineup, which boasts of great experience and firepower. They are more than capable of putting up 160+ scores on tough batting tracks, against any side they come across. Besides the usual suspects in Craig Williams, David Wiese and JJ Smits, they have some fine batters in skipper Erasmus, Zane Green and Stephan Baard, who are well capable of winning games for their side.
Weaknesses
They are a well-balanced side, but they are capable of capitulating with the bat at regular intervals, going by recent experiences. This is also a side-effect of their bowling department conceding above par totals pretty much every time. Their fielding exploits haven’t been very impressive as well, and must up their game in that regard to enter the Super 12 stages.
Key Namibia Players
David Wiese will be their X-factor player in the group stages.
Craig Williams: One of their senior-most and prolific cricketers, a lot of the run-scoring duties will fall heavily on Craig Williams. He scored a brilliant 51-ball 80 in the warm-up game and boasts of an average in excess of 33 in the shortest format. The 37-year-old can also be handy with the ball if needed.
David Wiese: Their most recognized name in the squad, David Wiese has represented South Africa in the past and played plenty of franchise cricket. He is in terrific form with the bat, scoring a 17-ball 31 against Scotland in the warm-up match. He has played a whopping 267 T20 matches in his lifetime, and boasts of more experience in this format than any other in the side.
Ruben Trumpelmann: This young left-arm pacer is one of the most attractive propositions in the group stages of the T20 World Cup. He picked up 3 wickets in both the warm-up games, and can tonk the ball a long distance whenever in need. He can give away some runs, but he bowls attacking channels and picks wickets at regular intervals.
Probable Namibia Playing XI for T20 World Cup 2021
Stephan Baard, Zane Green, Craig Williams, Gerhard Erasmus (c), David Wiese, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, Ruben Trumpelmann, Bernard Scholtz, Pikky Ya France, Karl Birkenstock