Namibia, on Friday (May 10), announced its 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The much-awaited marquee event is scheduled to be played from June 1 to 29 in the United States of America and the Caribbean.
Namibia is preparing to play the T20 World Cup for the third consecutive time. After failing to qualify for the main event from 2007 to 2016, the African country finally made it to the tournament in 2021.
They also played in the 2022 edition and recorded a famous 55-run victory over former champions Sri Lanka, although they failed to progress beyond the group stage.
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For the next edition, Namibia qualified dominantly. They reached the 2024 T20 World Cup after an impressive unbeaten run in last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup African Qualifier at home.
Namibia squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup:
All-rounder Gerhard Erasmus will lead Namibia in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024, while all-rounder JJ Smit has been named vice-captain. Twelve of the 15 players who played in last year’s T20 World Cup qualifier have been named in the squad for the main tournament.
The three players left out are Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Pikky Ya France and Shawn Fouche. Loftie-Eaton’s omission is sure to raise eyebrows as not many expected him to face the ax after smashing the fastest T20I century in men’s T20I history in February this year. He scored a 33-ball century against Nepal.
New faces in the Namibian team are seamer Dylan Leicher and pacers Ruben Trumpelmann and Jack Brassell. Meanwhile, Namibia are in Group B of the T20 World Cup 2024. The other teams in the group are defending champions England and 2021 winners Australia, Oman and Scotland.
They will open their campaign against Oman on June 2 in Barbados. On June 6, they will face Scotland before taking on Australia and England on June 11 and 15 respectively.
Namibia squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2024:
Gerhard Erasmus (c), Zane Green, Michael Van Lingen, Dylan Leicher, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jack Brassell, Ben Shikongo, Tangeni Lungameni, Niko Davin, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, JP Kotze, David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Malan Kruger, PD Blignaut