Why did Namibia get angry before the match against India? Questions raised on ICC’s decision

By Samira Vishwas On Feb 11, 2026

Namibia did not have a good start in the T20 World Cup 2026. It had to face a crushing defeat by 7 wickets at the hands of Netherlands at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday (January 10). Now Namibia has to face a strong team like India on the same ground on Thursday. This match will be played from 7 pm. Namibia has expressed displeasure at not getting a chance to practice in dim light before this match. Namibia captain Gerard Erasmus has said that India has trained twice at night but I don’t know why, we were not given this opportunity.

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Questions raised on ICC

Namibia played the match against Netherlands in the afternoon. The Namibian team was again at the Arun Jaitley Stadium after 24 hours and was practicing. The question being raised is that when Namibia’s match with India is at night, why were they called to practice in the afternoon? This question seems more reasonable because the Canadian team was seen practicing under lights with India on Wednesday, while their match is on Friday. Taking a jibe at ICC, Erasmus said that even Canada is practicing at night.

After the defeat against Netherlands, Namibia coach Craig Williams had said that playing under lights will not be easy but the team would like to practice on Thursday evening and get some acclimatization. However, ICC had scheduled Namibia’s practice session between 2 pm and 5 pm.

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Namibian team practicing at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Photo Credit: PTI

Namibia does not have experience of playing at night

The Namibian team is not accustomed to playing at night. The Namibian team does not have the facility to play under lights in their country. That’s why he is angry at not getting a chance to practice at night. Erasmus said that only those players who play in foreign T20 leagues have the experience of playing at night.

Before the match against India, Erasmus said, ‘We do not have light facilities in Namibia. This is perhaps the biggest challenge for us in terms of infrastructure. So this is not a trivial matter. Except for the players who have played in Nepal Premier League, ILT20 and World Cup in the past, the rest of the players are not accustomed to playing at night.