Williams: Erasmus has been practising round-arm, low-release delivery for two years

Hardik Pandya is an imposing figure to come up against, particularly as a spinner. Even when he wasn't as experienced as he is now, he had the belief that he could smash them all around the park.

Gerhard Erasmus had saved one of his overs just so he could pit himself against all that. "I just think he's that type of guy," Namibia coach Craig Williams said on Saturday. "He just continues to challenge himself."

India were 199 for 4 at the start of the 19th over. When it ended, they were 206 for 7. Erasmus had taken Hardik down and he was feeling so good he decided to test one of his experiments.

"I know guys talk about this new ball he bowls, round on with a really low action," Williams said. "He's actually been doing that for two years. He's just got the confidence now to be able to execute it on the world stage."

Erasmus used it to close out that 19th over. Axar Patel tried to sweep it. Only as much as he'd compensated for the ball's lack of height, he didn't quite account for the lack of pace. Axar was through the shot too quickly. He got beaten and then, from a deflection off his pad, he got bowled. Erasmus' round-arm, low-release sling spin had taken all the ingredients that enable power hitting out of the picture. It had nothing behind it and the batter could not get under it.

"He's just an extremely clever, talented person," Williams said. "I wish you guys could see how hard [Erasmus] works. And I'm glad he got some success against India, so the whole world can see what he's capable of."

All that pride in Williams' voice stems from the fact that his bond with Erasmus goes back a long way.

"I coached Gerhard since I was an under-13-year-old and I first joined Namibia in 2007. So I've worked with him his whole career."

There's another layer to their bond. Williams captained Erasmus for two games in 2011 and ended his career in 2022 playing several more under him.

"He's a role model to a lot of kids back home, to a lot of players. I mean, I coached him but then when I played, I also looked up to him.

"And he's only 30 years old. It feels like that name has been in our houses for the last 20 years. So he's still got a lot to offer and I really just hope all the hard work he puts in and all the effort and everything he does for Namibia that he can show the rest of the world what he's all about."

Namibia are winless at the T20 World Cup, having been beaten by Netherlands and India. Still, the fact that they're here for a third time and there is work being done to increase the infrastructure back home has Williams feeling quite positive.

"We've got a lot of things in plan, like in place with our high-performance programs currently. We've also got quite a few youngsters here, so to become, let's say, a team that is known for winning cricket matches on the big stage, we've got big plans in place. We're lucky to have our senior players still around 29-30 [years old]. So we have still got quite a good few years in us. But I mean, talk around the table the whole time, I'm sure with all the Associates, is how you can continue to get better."

Erasmus certainly leads the way in that regard. He was an underused bowler in the early years of his T20 career. That changed in 2018, and now it isn't just Namibia who are benefiting from his overs. He broke through into the franchise circuit with Gulf Giants in the ILT20 in 2022-23 and, over the course of four seasons, picked up three wickets from ten innings at an economy rate of 6.95.

"He's always been a bowler," Williams said of Erasmus. "It's just more and more now, we're finding ways to use him. He's extremely clever. He trains really hard. So he's got various options that he's brought into his game now, which he's actually been using for a couple of months.

"Look, he plays around the world more as a bowler than a batsman. He bowls difficult overs. He's always bowling in the powerplay, he's bowling out the powerplay, he's bowling death [overs]. So I think this is his tournament where he's actually showing the world what he does. We're really hoping that he comes off with a bat as well. I mean, he's a serious allrounder and obviously a great leader in our team."