Namibia look to play spoilers in Group A spotlight

vs Netherlands in Delhi, February 10
vs India in Delhi, February 12
vs USA in Chennai, February 15
vs Pakistan in Colombo, February 18

All the attention in Group A will be on India and Pakistan and Namibia will hope to add a bit more spice by causing a few upsets in their fourth straight appearance at the T20 World Cup.

They have a slightly inexperienced squad with five players having fewer than ten international games under their belt, but on their day, Namibia are capable of beating any opposition. Just ask neighbours South Africa, who were stunned by them last October in Windhoek in a last-ball thriller or Sri Lanka, who they beat in the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Namibia had a stellar 2025, where they won nine out of 12 T20Is, which included wins over Zimbabwe and South Africa. They finished second in the Africa Region qualifiers, losing to Zimbabwe in the final, but overall had a solid run. Led by Gerhard Erasmus, Namibia will rely a lot on the likes of JJ Smit, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Bernard Scholtz, Jan Frylinck and Ruben Trumpelmann to lead the way.

Nambia have been bolstered by the inclusion of Gary Kirsten, who was appointed consultant for the men's national teams in December last year. The one thing that could go against them is not having played competitive cricket since October 2025, and they might be a bit rusty heading into the World Cup. A few of the players have been active in franchise cricket, though. How Namibia will tackle the slower conditions in India and Sri Lanka, where spin will play a role, could decide their fate in the competition.

Namibia's last international match was against South Africa in October 2025, which they won by four wickets. Prior to that, they played the Africa qualifiers, where they had a dominant run through to the final.

Gerhard Erasmus will inarguably be the most important cog in this Namibia setup. He has the most runs for any Namibia batter in T20Is: 1833 in 77 innings at an average of 32.15. He also had a solid run in T20Is in 2025, scoring 276 runs in 12 outings at 30.66. This is Erasmus' fourth straight World Cup as Namibia captain and he will want to have a few more Ws in his pocket than what he's managed in the earlier editions.

Allrounder JJ Smit has had a huge role in Namibia's journey to the T20 World Cup and he will want to extend that run of form in India and Sri Lanka. He was the third-highest run-scorer at the Africa qualifiers, recording 197 runs in four innings, at an average of 98.50 and a strike rate of 187.61. He also picked up six wickets in five games with his medium pace. Smit is Namibia's third-highest run-scorer in T20Is in 2025 (250 runs in nine innings) and their highest wicket-taker with 20 wickets in ten innings at an economy rate of 6.19.

Left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz has been a pioneer of Namibian cricket and been around the circuit for a number of years. The highest wicket-taker for them in T20Is, Scholtz, has played all three editions of the T20 World Cup, but at 35, this fourth one could be his last.

1 Louren Steenkamp, 2 Jan Frylinck, 3 Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, 4 Gerhard Erasmus (capt), 5 JJ Smit, 6 Malan Kruger, 7 Zane Green (wk), 8 Ruben Trumpelmann, 9 Bernard Scholtz, 10 Ben Shikongo, 11 Jack Brassell

Rest of the squad: Max Heingo, Willem Myburgh, Dylan Leicher, Jan Balt