Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus was disappointed that his team was not given a night practice session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium before their T20 World Cup match against India on Thursday.

Echoing the worries expressed by their coach, Craig Williams, following their defeat to the Netherlands at the same venue on Tuesday, Erasmus stated that the much lower-ranked side required all the assistance they could receive before facing Suryakumar Yadav's powerful India.

Especially given that there was no infrastructure to play under lights back home, and many Namibian players had little to no experience playing day-night matches.

“We haven’t got any night games or day and night games in Namibia. Infrastructure-wise, maybe that is the big challenge for us. Barring the guys that have played in the Nepal Premier League or the ILT20, or at a World Cup before, not many are accustomed to playing under the lights,” Erasmus told reporters on the eve of the game on Wednesday.

“We have not been given a night training before this game. India had two, and today, Canada (before their match against the UAE on Friday) has one too. Make of that what you want… We are just going to rock up and do it the Namibian way, which is to fight,” he added.

Erasmus was nonetheless excited at the thought of facing a squad of India's caliber in a World Cup on their home turf, adding that for many on the team, it would be the most important match of their careers.

“I think it’s a big moment. We are no strangers to the players; we see them on TV a lot. In the IPL and in international cricket. So, you kind of know who you are going to face. But I think in terms of exposure, and in terms of the size of the event that it is, it’s going to be a very good experience for the younger players to play under the lights in front of 40,000 noisy fans. It’s going to be very cool,” Erasmus added.

India has played Namibia in T20Is only once, in the T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai, which the Men in Blue won by 9 wickets.

(PTI inputs)